Shinobi Isekai!
by Morrowyn
Summary: A woman from our world wakes up on the banks of the Naka River in a much smaller body than she remembers. How will our heroine traverse life in a ninja universe which insists on giving her the most Mary Sue backstory possible? OR Hanako cries a lot. It's all Jiraiya's fault. ON PAUSE FOR NANOWRIMO. APOLOGIES. UPDATES WILL RESUME IN DECEMBER 2020.
1. I woke up as a toddler?

The woman was dead, that much was obvious.

It had been for the last however many hours Bethany had sat by the river, too short arms wrapped around herself to keep the cold at bay. At first, she'd thought she was dreaming, adult mind trapped in a child's body, tucked into an adult's embrace. As time went on, however, it quickly became clear that the chest she snuggled against in a vain search for fading warmth had no heartbeat and the arms which held her fast were stiff, unbending prison bars. That panicked realization had her scrambling for freedom, but the limitations of this new, infantile body had her slipping down the muddy riverbank and into the, thankfully, languid water. By the time she made it up to dry ground both her hair and clothing were soaked through.

The woman was beautiful. This, too, was obvious.

Her hair was long and wavy, brown tendrils floating in the water like Millais' Ophelia. Dark eyes stared unblinking at a fixed point down river, full lashes clumped together in the wet. High cheekbones and straight, dark brows reminded Bethany of the Korean beauty vloggers her little sister tried so hard to emulate. Pale freckles sprawled across a small nose and tall forehead, adding character to an otherwise porcelain face. Her full lips were parted, black blood caked at the corners where the river had yet to reach. Intricate tattoos snaked their way around her wrists in thick, black bands, writing Bethany couldn't understand twisting in delicate swirls up to her elbow where the blue fabric of what looked like a Japanese kimono covered her body, red edged tears confirming a violent end.

Those tattoos were on Bethany's hands, too.

So strange, to see ink on a child's body. Let alone a child's body with her in it. Her fingers were so small, so chubby, and so, so cold.

The sun was much lower now than it had been when she'd first made her mad dash for the riverbank, and she was starting to feel the effects. Little bodies got colder faster, but she didn't want to leave the woman behind. It was entirely likely that she was the child's mother, and Bethany was oddly hesitant to separate them. There was also the added fear of what dangers a child might face within a forest.

Heck, even in her own body Bethany wouldn't want to go in there.

Maybe it was her new height, but it looked so big to her, the shadows between trees yawning maws waiting to swallow her up. What little camping knowledge she had would likely prove useless in her little body, but just waiting around to be rescued wasn't exactly a solid plan, either. The woman, whom she had started to accept was her mother, had clearly been murdered. There were still knives sticking out of her back. If her killer were still chasing them, staying put was the worst possible decision.

Bethany rubbed her hands together roughly, partly from nerves and partly for warmth. The air was becoming crisper and she knew she had to make her choice soon. Part of her was still convinced it was all a dream, a terrible twisted nightmare she'd call her mom in tears over and then forget. Even if it was, there was no need to just accept her fate, right?

Right.

Shakily, Bethany got to her feet, almost toppling over as pins and needles ran up her legs. She turned away from the river, but turned back just as quickly, stumbling down the riverbank before she could change her mind. Wading through freezing mud, she reached over her mother's back and pulled on one of the many hilts embedded in it. The blade came out with a stomach-turning squelch, the momentum sending her stumbling back. It was only after she'd fought down the bile that she recognized the object in her hand as a kunai blade. She'd bought a replica for her younger brother's last birthday—an inside joke based on their shared love of anime—but this one was larger, heavier, and clearly effective.

She scrambled back up to the tree line, the growing darkness urging her onward despite the urge to wipe the blade clean. Having the blade was a cold comfort, but it was more than she'd had before, and it gave her the courage to enter the woods and leave her mother behind.

As she'd suspected, her little child legs weren't capable of much. She was panting heavily sooner than she cared to admit. She was really starting to regret wallowing by the river for as long as she did. Night was truly settling in now and every shadow hid some strange menace her sullied kunai was too small to handle.

She sincerely hoped this was all some kind of lucid nightmare.

"Hey, now. What's a kid doing out here?"

Bethany froze, white knuckled grip tightening around the hilt of her kunai. The voice came from above her, but she was too frightened to look. Had her mother's killers caught up with her? Were they going to kill her, too?

Would she finally wake up?

"Easy, kiddo," the voice was behind her now! "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Swallowing thickly, she turned around. The person behind her was…

Kakashi Hatake?

Sure enough, her first animated crush was standing right in front of her, a pale vest worn over a sleeveless tracksuit. His hair was silvery grey and had more volume than straight hair that short should. His face was covered by his iconic mask, but it left far less to the imagination than the anime version had.

She was definitely dreaming.

It was hard to tell from his one eye, but Bethany felt like he was sizing her up. Suddenly, he squatted down, catching her when she leaned too far back in surprise.

"Oops, didn't mean to scare you," he said with a laugh. "Now, want to tell me where a little tyke like you got a blade like that?"

Bethany adjusted her grip on the kunai. "M-my mother," she stammered, focusing on his kind, dark eye. "At the r-river."

Kakashi looked up. "You get that?"

"Already on it," someone replied, and Bethany kicked herself mentally for thinking he was alone.

He placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair. "There now, he's gonna go get her, ok? How about you tell me your name while we wait, hmm?"

"Is this a dream?" She had to ask. There was no way Kakashi Hatake was asking for her name.

His expression had settled into friendly nonchalance, but her question seemed to take him aback.

"I don't think so," he replied, a smile in his voice. "If it is, then we're having the same one, and that's pretty amazing, don't you think?"

Oh, he was good. If she were really a child, she might have been comforted. Alas.

"She's dead," she said haltingly. "My mother is dead."

While she'd meant the woman in the river, it suddenly struck her that, if this wasn't a dream, her mother may as well be dead. She'd never see her again. Or her siblings. Or her cat.

It wasn't until Kakashi wrapped her up in a hug that she realized she was crying. Of all the times for her preteen fantasy to come true, it had to be during a breakdown.

Then again, maybe that was the best time.

"Can it please be a dream," she whispered into his chest. "I want it to be a dream."

Kakashi said nothing in reply, running a gloved hand over her back. After a moment he stood, bringing her up with him and propping her up on his hip.

"You found her," he said lowly, his voice a rumbling comfort.

"Yes," his companion replied. "What do we do now?"

"We go back," Kakashi replied matter-of-factly.

"But the mission-."

"Is not time sensitive." His voice was firm. "We're going back."

Oh, snap!

Bethany burrowed into Kakashi's chest as he took to the air, bracing herself for impact when he inevitably landed in a tree or something. It never came. If he did touch ground, it was too smooth to tell. If it wasn't for the wind in her hair, she would have thought he was standing still.

She took the opportunity to cry with impunity, letting herself mourn for the life she'd lost and the cruelty of her situation. Reincarnation was one thing, remembering your past life was another. There was still a slim possibility that it was a dream, but she really doubted it. Kakashi felt too real under her little hands, warm and moving and alive. How many dreams had she had of him over the years? Had he ever been so tangible? Not that she could remember.

By the time Kakashi began to slow, Bethany's tears had all but dried. She was still hiccoughing when he stopped.

"Take her to the morgue," he said to his partner. "Then meet me at the hospital."

"Yes!"

So, they were in the village. Or _a_ village. Somewhere with a hospital, at least. She hid her face in Kakashi's chest as they stepped into a building, the bright lights threatening to invade the safe space she'd carved from his warmth. He spoke briefly to what was probably a receptionist before moving on, and Bethany's mind began producing irrational fears.

"Hey," she whispered, tugging on his vest until he met her gaze. "Are you gonna leave me here?"

"Don't be silly," he said without missing a beat. "Can't just leave my favorite kiddo all alone, now can I?"

"What about your mission?" He looked down at her sharply and she flinched. "The other one said you had one."

"Ah," his expression relaxed. "Don't worry about it. It's not important."

Somehow, she doubted that. His laugh rumbled through her when she told him so.

"Alright, it's important, but it can wait. Besides, we need to figure out who wanted to hurt you."

There was an unspoken question in that, but Bethany had no answer for it. "You can put me down, now," she said instead. "I can walk."

He gave and exaggerated huff. "Oh, thank god. I thought my arms would fall off."

She smacked him. "Rude!"

His laughter was warm as he set her down, taking one of her hands in his as he led her down a sterile white hallway. "We're almost there," he said reassuringly. "They're just gonna do some tests to make sure you're healthy, ok?"

Bethany nodded. "And then what?"

"Then, someone will probably come and ask you some questions to find out who attacked you."

"And then?"

"Then, we'll figure out what to do with you."

"And then?"

"Then," he said with a mock glare. "We'll feed you to the monster under Hokage mountain!"

She opened her mouth, fully intending to milk her child status for all it was worth, but someone interrupted her.

"Captain, I'm here."

She and Kakashi both turned around to see-

Itachi Uchiha!

Long dark hair, equally dark eyes, and incredibly deep tear troughs under his eyes giving him an exhausted appearance. Despite his canon reputation as a handsome man, Bethany noted that he wasn't particularly attractive—at least, not to her—and she felt a little ripped off. He was dressed similarly to Kakashi, with an anbu mask hooked onto his belt.

Once again, Bethany found herself questioning the veracity of her situation. It was hard to accept when every new addition made it even more dreamlike.

"Yo, Itachi," Kakashi said amiably. "That was fast."

"There were no other autopsies scheduled, so they called the coroner in right away. I assume you've let Intelligence know about this."

"I had the hospital give them a call," he said with a shrug. "I figured it was best if I stayed with the kid."

Itachi didn't seem to agree, but he kept that to himself. "What now?"

"I need you to report to headquarters. They need to know if there are hostiles that close to the village."

Again, Itachi seemed displeased but didn't voice it. Bethany tugged on Kakashi's hand.

"You can go if you have to," she said calmly. "I can go by myself."

Her attempt to smooth things over backfired as Itachi looked away, visibly ashamed. Kakashi looked down at her with a smile. "Don't worry about it, kiddo. I can stay."

"But won't you get in trouble?" She really didn't want to get between these two if she could help it. Better to just go on her own while they did whatever it was ninjas did.

Kakashi sighed and turned to Itachi. "You take her, then. I'll be back."

What? No!

In half a second, Bethany and Itachi were left alone in the hallway.

"Where did he go?" She asked incredulously, meeting Itachi's gaze with wide eyes.

He didn't answer, taking her still raised hand in his own and pulling her along behind him.

"What's your name?"

Bethany hesitated. Although there were other ethnicities represented in Naruto—not particularly well, but still—she doubted her actual name would be received without suspicion. She'd done the typical weeaboo thing and tried to find the Japanese equivalent but ended making her own amalgamation. It wasn't really a name, but it was better than Bethany…

"Hanako," she said quietly, already regretting her decision to say it. "My name is Hanako."

"Flower child," he said as they came to a stop in front a door labeled 304. "That's a nice name."

"That's not how you write it," she said under her breath, still unhappy with herself for saying it. Luckily, a doctor ushered them in before Itachi could ask about it.

"Hello, there," the doctor said with a gentle smile. "What's your name?"

"Hanako," she replied, committed now.

"Well, Hanako, I'm going to have you come over here," she gestured to an examination table. "So we can make sure you're nice and healthy, ok?"

Bethany nodded and scrambled onto the table with some difficulty. She sat on the edge, swinging her little legs back and forth.

"Now, Hanako-chan, I need to remove some of your clothing. Are you comfortable having Uchiha-san here?"

She looked over at Itachi and he met her gaze levelly. "I don't mind." Canon had never established his sexual preferences in any detail, but she doubted he was a pedophile.

The doctor then helped her remove her shirt-kimono hybrid, gasping audibly at the sight of her chest.

Bethany had to admit, it wasn't a pretty sight. Between the tattoos winding around her shoulders and a myriad of bruises she hadn't felt before then, her body was a mottled mess. Now that she wasn't wallowing in her own misery or trying to stay alive, she noticed that her tattoos were rather fresh, the edges still raw and peeling.

"Oh, baby, how did this happen?" The doctor asked with real concern.

"Probably the river," she said, twisting in her seat to see how far the tattoos went. "I think we fell in."

"You think?"

She looked up at Itachi, her face carefully blank. "I can't remember. Maybe I hit my head," she rubbed at it for emphasis.

"We'll check, sweetie," the doctor assured her, cheer a little less genuine. "Don't worry."

The doctor conducted a _very _thorough exam, and Bethany began wondering whether she should have let Itachi stay. How old was she, anyway? Her hands were chubby and cute, but maybe she was just a chubby kid. She got on the table by herself, but Kakashi carried her with no problem. She determined to look in a mirror as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

"How old are you, sweetie?"

Bethany cursed silently at the doctor's benign question. She looked down at her little legs and hedged a guess.

"Five," she avoided both their gazes. "I'm five."

"Wow! You're very articulate for a five-year old," the doctor exclaimed in amazement as she scribbled on a clipboard.

"Thank you," Bethany replied lowly, an odd pit of guilt welling in the pit of her stomach. Was it a lie? It's not like they could check that, right?

Right?


	2. It Really Was

**I can see from the story stats that some of you have read this more than once. Thanks so much!**

* * *

Kakashi knocked on the door to room 304, rolling his neck with a sigh. His superiors hadn't been happy to hear he'd abandoned a mission before really starting it, but he'd meant it when he told Itachi it wasn't time sensitive. Another team was now investigating the river where the kid and her mother had been found, keeping an eye out for any pursuers. Meanwhile, the dead woman's body was being examined for any clues her attackers might have left behind. The kid would need to undergo some serious tests, as well as an examination by Analysis to make sure she wasn't a potential threat to the village, but she'd probably be adopted out to a family there in Konoha once everything settled down.

The door slid open, revealing a slightly harried doctor.

"Ah," she said with a wan smile. "Hatake-san. Please, come in."

He nodded politely to her and stepped into the room, only to stop in his tracks. The kid sat shirtless on the examination table, body riddled in bruises and swaddled in tattoos. She looked at him with bottomless black eyes, a small smile bringing life to her too serious face.

"You're back!"

He forced himself to express an ease he didn't feel. "Yo! How's it going?"

Her smile widened, revealing straight, white teeth. "Good! The doctor says I can go, now."

Kakashi tossed a glance at the doctor, who nodded. "She'll have to come back tomorrow for some other tests, but, for now, she's good to go."

"That's great, kid," he hefted her off the table and onto his hip. "What do you say we go get something to eat?"

She pulled her shirt over her head, hiding most of her bruises and tattoos under pale green fabric. Jumping to the ground with a comically high-pitched grunt, she turned to Itachi. "You wanna come?"

Itachi's face softened into a gentle smile. "Thank you, but no. I need to give my own report, and my family is waiting for me."

She nodded sagely. "Ok, get home safe."

Kakashi reached out a hand for hers and led her from the room and down the hall, ignoring Itachi's curious glance. True, he wasn't much of a kid person, but he was one of the only people in the village she knew. He couldn't just leave her with strangers.

A realization struck him as they stepped out of the hospital into the night air. "Hey, kid, what's your name?"

She turned those black, black eyes back on him. "Hanako."

For some reason, the normalness of it surprised him. "That's a nice name."

She looked away, short brown curls bouncing with the movement. "It's really not."

His eyebrows raised on their own. "Oh?"

She sighed heavily and turned her gaze up to the stars. "It's not hana as in flowers. It's hana as in sorrow."

Kakashi looked up, too, a little guilty that his expectations had been met. "That's not so bad," he said a little haltingly. "No one has to know that. You're in a new place now, you can change it to flowers, if you like."

She looked down at her feet. "Maybe." Her voice was smaller than she was, but Kakashi still heard her. Abruptly, she tugged on his hand with a wide-eyed expression. "Where am I going to sleep, tonight?"

Kakashi's own eyes widened. "Ah!"

* * *

The next morning, Kakashi accompanied Hanako on the walk to the Hokage's office. He watched as she jumped on fallen leaves, crying out in victory every time they crunched. During their little sleep over at his place—approved by her doctor—he'd noticed how little she resembled other children her age. She was serious, articulate, and able to grasp fairly difficult concepts. He typically avoided children her age because they required constant care and supervision, but Hanako seemed more like a tiny adult than a kid. Watching her giggle now reminded him that she was very much a child.

A child who had witnessed her mother's death.

That alone made his blood boil, though he refused to consider why. Down that path lay nothing but terrible memories.

Hanako made loud noises of appreciation as they entered the Hokage's office, waving at the adults walking by. Many laughed behind their hands or remarked openly on how cute she was. And she _was_ cute, all smiles and unruly curls, but there was an edge to her that only revealed itself when she spoke. Her vocabulary was too large, her eyes too piercing for a child so young. Kakashi could recall only one other child who behaved like that, but he was at least twice her age before people began to notice he was different from his peers. Itachi may have finally been surpassed.

Or she was more than she seemed.

Hanako skipped alongside him, humming a little song to herself and looking for all the world like an ordinary child. Then, she looked up at him with limpid dark eyes and said, "Am I going to be interrogated?"

She kept talking without pausing for his answer. "It only makes sense that I would—as an outsider coming in under suspicious circumstances—but I want to know for sure. I don't know how many answers I can give you, but I'll do my best."

That. It was things like that which had him doubting. What five-year-old worried about interrogation? Or even knew what interrogation _was_, let alone how to pronounce it?

He didn't have much time to think about it, though. Inoichi Yamanaka met them outside the office door, his expression visibly surprised.

"Had I known she would be so young, I would have brought Ino with me. Children are often more comfortable when there are others their own age about."

Hanako looked up at him, her face deceptively guileless. "They didn't tell you how old I am?"

Inoichi seemed surprised to be addressed. "No, they didn't." He threw a confused glance at Kakashi, who shrugged. "They said a child had been brought into the village and they needed my help."

She held the older man's gaze for a little too long before nodding. "My name is Hanako. It's nice to meet you."

She didn't bow, instead holding out a little hand, fingers extended. Inoichi took it, allowing the girl to shake it up and down even though he was clearly confused.

"I am Inoichi Yamanaka." He said gravely. "It's nice to meet you, too."

She smiled and opened her mouth to speak, but the office door opened and caught all their attention. Itachi Uchiha stood in the doorway, dressed in his Anbu uniform and mask. He didn't speak, but gestured at them to enter.

Hanako waved at him with a chipper hello, clearly recognizing him despite his mask and silence. Kakashi laughed at Itachi's expense, clapping the shorter man on the shoulder as he entered. He held up a hand in greeting to the others in the office, but was interrupted before he could speak.

"You look just like my grandpa!" Hanako's voice was high pitched with incredulity and she leveled one chubby finger on Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage himself.

The elderly man chuckled. "Do I really?"

Hanako placed both hands on her face, dragging them down in an exaggerated display of shock. "Yes! But-how-why-I don't understand! This doesn't make any sense!"

Kakashi and Inoichi exchanged a glance above Hanako's head. True, the odds of someone looking exactly like their Kage were incredibly low, but doppelgangers were a thing for a reason, right?

Hanako seemed to think differently, tugging at her hair and furrowing her brows in very apparent confusion. "I don't understand," she repeated, tears filling her eyes. "I don't understand."

The Hokage stood, coming around his desk to kneel in front of the distressed child, placing aged hands on her shoulders. "It's alright, my dear. I understand this is difficult for you, and under different circumstances I would encourage you to take all the time you need before speaking with us. However, your circumstances are rather special. We need to hurry if we are to catch the men who killed your mother. I hope you can forgive our insensitivity."

Kakashi looked on as Hanako met the old man's gaze. "So you _are_ interrogating me."

Hiruzen laughed heartily. "So we are, but only a little. Yamanaka-kun," Inoichi stepped forward. "Has a jutsu which will allow him to see your memories. It will be easier on you than an actual interrogation, and allow us to pick up details that you might not deem important. Of course," he added, stroking his beard. "He'll only use it if you let him."

To Kakashi's surprise, Hanako seemed hesitant. She worried her bottom lip for a moment before looking up at the Hokage. "Can I hold your hand?"

Hiruzen's expression became incredibly soft. "Of course, my dear."

Inoichi approached at the Hokage's signal and performed his mind reading jutsu. Normally, the technique was reserved for criminals and suspected spies, aided by the use of a specially designed machine.

It was much less impressive in the middle of an office.

Kakashi almost looked away, not at all interested in watching what, in his mind, would be nothing interesting, but Inoichi's brows furrowed. Visibly frustrated, the Yamanaka clan-head doubled down on the jutsu, pouring in enough chakra that even Kakashi could feel it. The air sizzled with it. Another Anbu agent came in through the window, clearly concerned. The Hokage waved him off, careful not to jostle the kid.

Inoichi released the jutsu, sweat beading on his forehead. "A seal," he said with no small amount of suspicion. "A seal has been placed on her memories."

Hanako curled in on herself, an almost guilty look on her face. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, looking up at the Hokage with an earnest expression. "I didn't know."

The old man pat her head with a fond smile before standing with some difficulty. "It's alright, my dear. It's no use worrying about things outside your control. We adults will figure out what our next course of action should be. In the meantime, let us discuss where to put you. I can't imagine you enjoyed staying over at Hatake-kun's apartment last night."

Hanako crinkled her nose.

"It's not that bad," Kakashi said with mock hurt in his voice.

It really wasn't.

Really.


	3. Ask, And Ye Shall Receive

Hanako—that was her name now, may as well start identifying with it—fidgeted quietly in her seat. Across from her sat Danzo Shimura, Mr. Evil McBadguy himself, with the other members of the Konoha council on either side. They all regarded her with unconcealed distrust. Danzo, especially, seemed to enjoy watching her squirm. Her own knowledge of him aside, he was an intimidating man. Deep crows' feet and frown lines highlighted his cruel sneer, liver spots standing out on his pallid skin like the darkness within trying to break free. The other council members were no better. Old and withered, their faces were probably frozen like that.

Luckily, the Hokage was also there, holding her hand with a gentle smile. Now that she really looked at him, his resemblance to her grandfather wasn't actually that strong. It was the shape of his jaw, the way his brows moved as he spoke, the one crooked tooth that peaked out from his smile; a bunch of little things all working together to swathe this Asian man in a fog of familiarity which tugged unkindly at Hanako's heart.

Faced with this, and thoroughly unwilling to cry again, she decided to focus on his hands. Her grandfather was a soft, even tempered man whose green eyes always sparkled with quiet mischief. His fingers were long and slender, often dry and littered with ink stains. The Hokage's hands were wide and rough with callouses born of a life as a ninja. Their warmth calmed Hanako's nerves, but she still avoided looking at Danzo too long.

"So," the mastermind of the Uchiha Massacre began, tilting his head up and looking down his nose at her. "Your name is Hanako, is that right?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir."

"No family name?" The old woman shook her head. "Most children your age know that, at least."

Tch. "No one ever said it," Hanako replied quietly, not for the first time thanking whichever power had seen fit to seal her memories. "We were all on a first name basis."

"And, who is 'we'?" Danzo lingered on the word, stretching it in a way Hanako wished she could unhear.

"My family. It was me, my parents, and my cousins." Damn. She was making an entire backstory, now. Good thing no one could fact check her. Besides, she wasn't lying. Not really. She really had lived with her parents and cousins when she was _actually_ five, before the birth of her siblings. So if there were any lie-detector jutsus running in the background, she would hopefully be ok.

The council all shared a glance laden with meaning she couldn't quite grasp. The old woman spoke again. "Do you know your parents' names?"

Oh no.

"Yes," she began, rummaging her brain for plausible Japanese names. "Eijirou and Ochako." Well, ain't that a crackship?

The old woman nodded and wrote down her response, probably using the wrong kanji. Curse Horikoshi and his silly names.

Could she blame hers on him, too? That would be nice.

"Do you know what your tattoos are for?"

Danzo's question came as no surprise—if anything, she was surprised he hadn't asked it sooner.

"I don't, actually," she didn't have to fake the sad confusion which crossed her face. "When I try, there's nothing there. My mother had them, too, though, so they must be important."

During her sleep over at Kakashi's, Hanako took the time to examine her tattoos more closely. The writing was still beyond her, all squiggles and dots, but the thick, black bands were at least traceable. Starting on the palms of her hands, they wound their way up her arms, around her waist, and all they way to the soles of her feet. She felt kind of like the Avatar, to be honest, and she wasn't mad at that.

Clearly displeased by her answer, Danzo addressed the adults in the room. "How can we allow what is clearly a foreign shinobi into the village when we know neither her clan nor her abilities?"

"She is a child, Danzo," the Hokage sighed.

"A child she may be, but a child she will not remain. What if the village were to enter a conflict with her people? How can we be certain that her loyalties will be with us?"

She hated to admit it, but he made a certain amount of sense. Or, he would have, had she not been _a literal child._

The Hokage stroked his beard, clearly choosing his words. He turned to Hanako with an achingly familiar twinkle in his eyes. "Hanako-chan, is there anything else you can tell us about your family? Like their values or how they approach conflict?"

The old woman began protesting that she was too young to answer such questions, but Hanako was already speaking.

"Well," she said slowly, thinking of her real family, a literal world away. "We really value education. My mother always encouraged me to ask questions and to read new books whenever possible. She was really smart," her voice began to break, and she took a moment to calm herself, tightening her grip on the Hokage's hand. "She was really smart. She liked to read history books published in different countries so she could get everyone's perspective."

The Hokage smiled gently. "She sounds like a wonderful woman."

Hanako's chin wobbled, but she managed to croak out a tiny "Thank you" without crying.

Danzo didn't look impressed. "Let us not forget that this 'wonderful woman' met a rather violent end. It would probably be better to assume she was an outlier, rather than hoping the rest of her clan shared her views."

Did he have to make so much sense? He was evil—she knew he was evil—but he was actually making some very valid arguments. She could understand, now, how he earned his place on the council and in the Hokage's good graces. The Hokage was totally down to just let her into the village, but Danzo was basically forcing him to cover his bases in case anyone else questioned him.

Too bad he was evil.

"Well, child," he asked her, tone and expression still cold. "Do you have anything else to say in your defense?"

Not really, but…

"My grandfather," she began, smiling to herself as she called up the memories. "Had something he would always say whenever any of us got into fights. 'Do not kill if you can wound, do not wound if you can subdue, do not subdue if you can pacify, and never raise your hand at all until you have first extended it'."

Her grandfather had loved Wonder Woman. She distinctly remembered crying when she found out he'd left her all his first edition comics. It was one of the joys they'd shared, and a part of her was proud to have brought some Amazonian wisdom to the ninja realm.

She looked up and met Danzo's critical gaze. "I can't speak for the rest of my clan, or to whether I even have one, but I _can_ speak for myself. I don't like violence. The idea of causing the kind of heartbreak my mother's death has given me is one which revolts me. I understand that my missing memories and the seal that has been placed upon them are a serious cause for concern, especially since I am clearly from a shinobi family which you are thus far unable to identify. However, I am afraid I have no choice but to ask for leniency. I am a child with no formal shinobi training or family upon which to rely. Help me, Danzo Shimura-san, you're my only hope."

She bowed low in her seat, training her eyes on her sandals as she waited for an answer. To her surprise, it was the Hokage who spoke next.

"Thank you, Hanako-chan. You may raise your head." He turned to the council members, his expression stern. "I believe we have heard all we need to, yes?"

Danzo heaved a great sigh, his face no longer quite so stiff. "Agreed. Place her where you will."

What?

The Hokage's chuckle was warmly ominous. "Oh, I plan to."

What!?

* * *

Hanako met and held Kakashi's gaze, her own exhausted disbelief looking back at her.

"You cannot be serious," the Anbu said, turning to address the Hokage who sat at his desk with a poorly concealed smug grin on his face.

"Oh, I am," the old man chortled. "In fact, I don't think I have ever been _more_ serious regarding you, Hatake-kun."

Kakashi launched into a tirade, listing all of the reasons he couldn't possibly take on the responsibility of parenthood.

Hanako was still reeling from the announcement that her childhood crush was now supposed to be her _dad_.

Maybe even…daddy?

She shook her head violently to purge that accursed thought from her head.

"You ok, kiddo?"

She dismissed Kakashi's concern, turning an angry glare on the Hokage. "Is this legal?"

"What do you mean?"

"I _mean_," she spat. "Is infringing on the autonomy of private citizens one of the legal rights of the Hokage?"

Both men looked at her with bewilderment for a long, drawn out moment before Kakashi turned back to the Hokage.

"Never mind, I'll take her."

Hanako gaped at him, aghast.

"What?" He ruffled her hair. "You don't want me?"

"But he's forcing me on you," she insisted. "I'm sure you have better things to do than take care of some kid that isn't even yours."

He raised his eyebrow at her. "Oho, you're sure, are you? If you were any other kid, you'd be right. But," he waggled his finger at her. "My kid knows what legal autonomy is. How many other people can say _that_?"

What?

She opened her mouth to protest, but Kakashi was already filling out the paperwork laid out on the Hokage's desk, humming loudly as he did.

"You're going to regret this," she said blandly, already predicting the worst possible outcomes for their situation.

"Oh, please," her new parent said in a sing song voice. "How bad can this be?"

* * *

**Surprise! **

**Or is it? Honestly, so many of you voted Kakashi, I figured I may as well just write the damned thing. So, here ya go! Dad!Kakashi. Hope you're happy. **

**I initially planned on having Asuma adopt her so the Hokage could be her _actual_ grandfather, but whatever, this doesn't really change much. I hope to have another chapter published before Thanksgiving, so stay tuned. **


	4. Shame!

**I'm currently reading a fic which incorporates chakra as a means of communication; i.e., ninja can feel people's intent during physical contact. I think it's really cool and I might incorporate it, myself. If anything, it will certainly make flirting interesting. Tell me what you think!**

**The fic is called _Tsundoku_ and it's posted on Archive of Our Own.**

* * *

Iruka Umino sighed into his hands, hanging his head in exasperation. Across from him sat a disinterested Kakashi Hatake and a fidgety little girl who was clearly his. Like her father, she wore a mask over most of her face, leaving her expressive dark eyes and straight brows exposed. Her hair was a mop of light brown curls, too short to fall neatly but too long to be kept in check, not at all like her father's—her entire_ clan's_—iconic silver mane. She seemed to shrink in on herself every time she caught Iruka's gaze, looking down and away and oh so small.

"Let me see if I have this right, Hatake-san," Iruka began, trying desperately to keep his annoyance from his face. "You want me to enroll your daughter—Hanako?—in the Academy the next term in January, but you want me to place her in the class due to graduate, almost all of whom are twice her age, instead of in her own age group. Was that correct?"

"Yep."

Ah, he was going to pop a vein at this rate. Poor little Hanako looked so embarrassed. A flush was creeping up her face from under her mask.

"Alright, that isn't impossible," Iruka said as graciously as he could, pulling out the requisite paperwork from a drawer. "Of course, we'll need Hanako-chan to take a leveling exam before we admit her. Just to make sure she's placed in the class that will best suit her needs."

Kakashi nodded along amiably, but Hanako looked positively green.

"Is that something you'd like to do, Hanako-chan." Iruka used his kindest teacher voice, smiling at the little girl.

She looked at him, holding his gaze for a long moment before whispering, almost inaudibly.

"Can I start from the beginning, please?"

Iruka's brows rose and her father turned to her in surprise.

"What's the matter, kiddo?" He asked, dropping a hand on her head with a rather loud whap. "You've got what it takes to speed run this, you know." She shook her head, eyes watering. Kakashi immediately dropped his flippant façade, voice serious. "What's wrong?"

Her hands shook as she wiped away her tears. "I-I can't read. No, no I _can_ read," she added hastily, meeting her father's gaze with what looked like panic. "Just not that."

She pointed a little finger at the papers on Iruka's desk. The words were written in the standard Kanji-Hiragana blend used by all the Nations. It was part of every compulsory education program in the Land of Fire and was the only writing system known to everyone save a few isolated clans.

Kakashi held out a hand to Iruka. "A pencil, if you would."

Hanako took Iruka's pencil from her father, darks eyes still wide and watery. At his instruction, she wrote out a line of text on the edge of a paper. It was strange, unlike anything Iruka had ever seen. Straight lines and careful curves going right to left looked up at him, almost taunting in their foreignness. Hanako used the eraser end of the pencil to point at the text as she read it aloud.

"My name is Hanako Hatake. I am five years old and I live in Konoha."

Incredible.

Kakashi picked up the paper and had her read it to him another two times before sighing. "Welp, I guess you will need to start from the beginning, huh, kiddo?"

She cringed bodily. "I'm sorry."

Her father scoffed and ruffled her hair, sending wayward curls every which way. "Nah, don't worry about it. I should've asked about this stuff before I went about making plans on my own."

Iruka smiled a little at the display of affection but had to ask. "Sorry for being so forward, but is there a reason you haven't learned to read standard writing, yet, Hanako?"

She waited for her father's nod before answering. "My mother's clan has their own system, and I learned that one first. I started learning, a little bit, but…" She trailed off, unable or unwilling to finish.

Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder, jostling her roughly. "Don't sweat it, kid. We can get some practice books or something and have you ready in time for the school year."

They were a cute duo, if a bit odd. They were at once overzealous and hesitant. It was good balance when maintained, but they didn't seem quite in sync, yet.

That, too, was odd.

It wasn't Iruka's place to question parent child dynamics, though. As surprising as the newest Hatake's existence might have been for him, as long as there was nothing overtly worrying going on he had to respect their privacy. Hanako clearly thought the world of her father's opinion, but whether that was good or bad could only be determined after more observation.

"Do you still want to go through the placement testing?" He smiled gently at Hanako's delighted surprise. "I can give it to you orally, if you like. That way you know what you need to catch up on before the term starts."

"Yes, please!"

Kakashi laughed at Iruka's stunned expression as he stepped out of the exam room behind a chipper Hanako. The Chuunin felt like he'd seen the Great Sage himself, eyes wide and mouth hanging open in disbelief. He shook his head, then shook it again.

"She's…" He stared at the space between his hands, floundering. "How?"

Kakashi's smirk was clear despite his mask. "She's my kid."

Iruka leveled an unimpressed glare his way. "She's a genius, is what she is. If it wasn't for her reading, I'd suggest petitioning the Hokage to graduate her now. A mind like that would be a godsend for Analysis." Her pool of knowledge aside, Hanako's cognitive reasoning was far beyond anything he'd ever seen in a child her age—heck, he knew a few adults without her level of skill. If she continued to grow beyond that point, she had all the potential to be a legendary shinobi.

"So, you'll bump her up?"

Iruka gave a long suffering sigh. "If she can pass a reading comprehension test before the start of the term, I'll put her in one of the older classes. There are some kids in there she should get along with." He was already rearranging his list of potential teams, factoring the little genius and trying to find a match.

Kakashi nodded. "Got it."

Hanako's eyes glowed with happiness. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei! I won't let you down!"

He smiled warmly, privately struck by the strange blend of maturity and innocence she presented. Child geniuses were often that way, however, and Konoha had been blessed with several in the last few generations.

"Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything," he told her father. "I look forward to working with you both."


	5. System Failure

Hanako sat alone at her desk, staring at the bento—a real life bento!—Kakashi had packed for her. It was a sweet gesture, and one that she appreciated, but she found herself in a quandary.

How the hell was she supposed to eat with her mask on?

Kakashi had been surprised when she asked if she could wear one, but he'd supplied it without question. She was thankful. The first time she saw her face in a mirror without bruises or bandages, she almost screamed. The face in the mirror was the face in the water, reflected back at her with black, black eyes, pale freckled skin wet and glistening and dead. It wasn't her face. Not the one she remembered having. Not the one her _real_ mother gave her. She didn't want to see it if she could help it—didn't want anyone else to see it.

Hence the mask.

The anime had never covered _how_ Kakashi ate without exposing his face and Hanako had completely overlooked that when she left the apartment that morning. Normally—if anything could be considered normal anymore—she ate at home with Kakashi.

She sighed.

"Hey, new kid!"

Oh, boy.

She looked up at the taller girl, very much aware of the hush that had come over the classroom. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't expected to be confronted in some way, but not quite so soon.

"What's with the mask?"

The banality of the question surprised her, but Hanako answered honestly. "My dad wears one, too."

Her dad. _Dad._ Even now, months after officially joining the Hatake clan, that word gave her shivers. Mentally, she was probably older than her new father, and embarrassing memories of self indulging fanfiction would likely keep that word tainted for a very long time.

"Why?"

Hanako shrugged, not really certain, herself. Despite her debilitating crush on the man, she'd never cared about his mask beyond 'it looks cool'. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

The other child's face twisted in a sneer. "I bet you're both ugly."

Ha! As one of the few people alive to have seen her father's face, she could proudly attest that thirteen year old her had very good taste in men.

Eugh, she wasn't allowed to think like that anymore! Dad!Kakashi was not for ogling! Bad Hanako! Bad!

She shrugged, her lack of reaction visibly taking the wind out of her would-be bully's sails. "Think what you like."

The other kids in the classroom were beginning to lose intertest, turning back to their own lunches and conversations. Hanako herself was already thinking of how to eat when two little fists hit her desk with a bang.

"Ugly little kids shouldn't be in this class," the bully girl shouted, her face flushed with anger. "This class is for serious shinobi only!"

Hanako stared blankly at the panting child, thoroughly confused by the leap in logic. They were the center of attention again, though, and the bully seemed pleased by this.

"Wait," Hanako said slowly, choosing her words carefully. Mysterious rebirth aside, she was still the adult in the situation and she would like to avoid hurting a child's feelings if she could help it. "You're mad because I'm ugly and little?"

Someone snickered behind her and Hanako winced internally as the little girl flushed even brighter.

"You're too young to be in here," she huffed. "You'll just hold the rest of us back."

Ah.

"You're right."

"So just go back—what?"

"You're right," Hanako repeated with a sigh, shrinking under the stares of her classmates. "I wanted to start from the beginning, but my dad wanted me to take a placement test, instead. This is where it put me." She looked at her hands, so much smaller than the balled fists on her desk. "I have some catching up to do, but I promise I'll do my best to keep up with everyone. Please be patient with me."

She met and held the bully's gaze, keeping her expression as earnest as possible. She didn't want any trouble, and the less attention she attracted the better. There were people whose radars she'd rather stay under, after all.

Alas, the girl seemed even angrier with her, her face twisting as she opened her mouth to speak again.

"An inspiring declaration!"

A hand was thrust into between them, and Hanako followed its arm up to…

Rock Lee!

There was no way it was anyone else. Not with those eyebrows. His face was round with youth and his hair was pulled into a long braid down his back. Black eyes sparkled above a wide smile and Hanako found herself returning it.

"Please, allow me to welcome you to our class," he said exuberantly. "I am Rock Lee!"

"Hanako Hatake," she replied, just barely remembering to bow. "It's nice to meet you, Lee."

It was like a dam had broken. After Rock Lee's introduction, several other students came up to her and welcomed her to the class. While she was glad they no longer seemed to be avoiding her, she was still a bit—ok, a lot—uncomfortable socializing with children. The months she'd spent learning to read Japanese had been fairly isolated. Kakashi was the only person she really spoke with at length, and she liked it that way. He, at least, didn't try to dumb himself down, and she could speak freely without worrying about sounding too mature. Plus, sometimes he summoned Pakkun for her and the little pug was quickly becoming something like a friend—she still couldn't quite accept the whole 'talking dog' angle, but she was getting there. She purposefully limited her exposure to other children her age, trying not to change too much. She'd read _way _too much fanfiction to risk that.

Even if it did break her heart a little.

After school let out, a few children waved goodbye. She reciprocated, sure to keep a friendly smile on her face. The instant people stopped looking at her, she relaxed her expression and sighed. It wasn't a bad first day—it certainly could have been worse—but she was still glad it was over. She shuddered in the January chill, pulling her puffy jacket closer around herself. Many children were greeted by their parents, but several others simply left the academy.

Hanako was going to be one of them, it seemed.

She chewed absently at the inside of her lip, mentally retracing her steps as she tried to remember the way to Kakashi's apartment. The roads in Konoha weren't really made with walking in mind, winding and riddled with dead ends. Even Kakashi had gotten lost while walking with her, so used to just jumping across rooftops.

The odds of getting back before the winter sun set behind Hokage Mountain were beginning to look quite slim.

She sighed, light setting her foggy breath aflame. Her bento sat uneaten in her bag and she resolved to find a private place to eat it before getting helplessly lost.

"Hey!"

Oh no.

Mentally bracing herself, Hanako turned toward the voice only to find she wasn't its target.

_Oh no._

A young, gangly Naruto shrunk under her gaze, blue eyes looking at anything but her. His clothing all but swallowed him and Hanako felt anger welling up in her chest. She may have resigned herself to avoiding other children, but Naruto had never been part of that plan. She looked sharply at the group of bullies—hers among them—who came up behind him, faces twisted with a sick cruelty no children should ever wear.

"Hey, freak," Naruto flinched. "What do you think you're doing here? I told you not to come back!"

The leader of the group pushed Naruto to the ground with unnecessary force, and Hanako ran forward, placing herself between them with her hands outstretched.

"Leave him alone, you jerk!"

The sneers slipped from their faces, but the bully from her class stepped forward.

"Move over, new kid. This isn't about you."

"It doesn't have to be," Hanako replied sternly, willing all of her anger and outrage into her eyes. A Sharingan would have been perfect right then. "Leave him alone."

Behind her, Naruto was scrambling to his feet. She kept her glare trained on the kids who shared confused whispers and glances, looking to their leader for guidance. The boy was taller than her—but so was everyone, it seemed—and he sneered.

"You're new, so you might not know, but that's not a kid. It's a freak of nature and it doesn't belong here. The Academy is for shinobi, only."

How familiar.

"You guys really need to come up with better material," she scoffed. "That one already used that line on me."

The other kids followed her pointing finger to the other girl who bristled under their attention.

"W-what?" She demanded. "She's a freak, too! Her face is so ugly, the Hokage makes her wear a mask!"

What?

A laugh bubbled up in her chest but before it could spill out of her Naruto leapt in front of her, hackles raised.

"Back off," he shouted, all his earlier timidity replaced by righteous fury. "You can pick on me, but leave other people out of it!"

_Oh, my sweet boy._

"Don't waste your energy on them," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder and ignoring the way he flinched at the contact. "They're not worth it."

He turned to look at her over his shoulder, blue eyes hard. "No, they can't get away with this."

"They won't," she said, a devious plan forming in her mind. "You know their names?"

"Uh, yeah, but," he shrank in on himself. "Telling won't work."

The bullies laughed and Hanako bristled.

How _dare_ the system fail like this. How _**dare **_it.

She turned a furious gaze on the lead bully, fully prepared to use her adult intellect to bring a child to his knees, when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder.

"Hey, now," Kakashi said lowly. "Don't tell me you're starting fights on the first day?"

She whirled on him. "Daddy, punish them!"

His one eye widened in surprise, then narrowed. The group of kids shifted uncertainly, their confidence gone in the presence of an adult. Naruto also fidgeted, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"And what am I punishing them for?" His tone was light and playful, but there was an air of danger around him

"Bullying," she answered confidently. "And discrimination."

His eyebrow rose in amusement. "Discrimination?"

She nodded, playing up her cuteness with exaggerated movements. "On the basis of age."

He snorted, covering his masked face as he tried to keep from laughing. "Ahem, that's no good. I can't punish bullies on Academy property, kiddo. But," he added, quieting her protests. "I _can_ tell your senseis about this. How does that sound?"

Hanako nodded, relishing the fear on the bullies' faces. "Good! Come on," she took Naruto's hand in her hers, dragging him behind her as she walked past Kakashi with her head held high. "Let's ditch these losers."

Kakashi didn't bother hiding his laughter, this time.


	6. Hanako Hatake's Day Off

Pakkun sighed. Kakashi's whelp coughed roughly in her room, the wet sound traveling through the apartment walls with little effort. Poor pup had been bed ridden for days, a fever wracking her too small body and leaving her dazed and confused.

He hadn't been sure what to think of her, at first. Her scent was strange, like her body was young but her chakra was old, and it made his nose itch. She didn't clamber to pet him, like other kids her age, instead asking for permission every time and speaking respectfully.

That Kakashi took on a child at all had been strange. After all the loss he'd suffered, Pakkun and the pack believed he would never allow another human into his life, let alone start a family of his own. Adoption had certainly been out of the question. And yet…

He could see what drew Kakashi to her. There was a sadness about her, a despondency which dripped from her chakra and called to the people around her to offer their comfort. Her black eyes had seen too much, too soon, too young.

Just like Kakashi.

Another round of coughing broke his reverie, and Pakkun sighed again. It was times like these he really wished he had thumbs. It was hard enough caring for humans when they were healthy adults, but sick children were a realm of their own.

Honestly, of all the times for Kakashi to go on an away mission.

He trotted down the hall and into the girl's room, jumping up onto the bed and settling down beside her.

"How're you feeling, pup?"

She wheezed harshly, opening bleary eyes to look at him. A wobbly smile spread across her unmasked face, awakening a pair of deep dimples. "Pakkun." Another cough wracked her body.

He reached over and removed the wet cloth from her forehead, kneading it with his paws to push out the sweaty water. "Hush, pup. Don't strain yourself." He rewet the cloth and placed it on her head, wiping away the excess water that ran down her face. "Did you take your medicine?"

She nodded, breathing ragged. "Pakkun, what about school?"

"Don't worry about it, pup. Kids get sick all the time."

She tried to protest further, but a knock on the front door interrupted her.

Pakkun pressed down on her chest with a paw, leveling a mock glare on her. "Stay."

He jumped off the bed and scampered over to the entryway, leaping up and hooking his paws around the door handle. His weight pulled it down and the door swung inward, letting a swatch of sunlight broken by a shadow. Looking around the door, Pakkun took in the visitor.

The boy was only around seven or eight, with the pale, pale eyes of the Hyuuga. He wore a wide headband over his forehead, marking him as a member of the branch family, and a dark blue yukata.

"What do you want, kid?" Pakkun asked, sitting in the doorway. "There aren't any humans around to entertain you."

The Hyuuga boy held out a red folder. "Iruka-sensei sent me here to bring Hatake the work she missed in class today."

Pakkun nodded his head. "Thanks, kid. She was worried about that."

A loud cough echoed from inside the apartment and the Hyuuga's pale eyes flickered past Pakkun for a moment before settling on his face.

"She's ill."

It wasn't a question, but Pakkun answered anyway.

"Yeah, I wouldn't linger if I were you. She'd hate it if you caught it from her."

The child nodded and placed the folder in Pakkun's open mouth before leaving.

The little pug turned back to the interior of the apartment, kicking the door closed behind him. Hopefully, the kid would be well enough to finish her schoolwork before it began piling up. Kakashi had never really had any homework—a perk of graduating at six—but he'd never been one for paperwork. Either he did it right away or not at all.

Pakkun could only hope that bad habit wasn't contagious.

Hanako was happy to see the folder, bleary eyes scanning the contents with a small smile. "Who brought it?"

"A Hyuuga," Pakkun replied, burrowing into her soft comforter. "He dropped it off and left."

"Eh? You mean Neji-san?" She seemed genuinely surprised. "Huh, I didn't think him the type."

A cough shook the bed and Pakkun again lamented his lack of thumbs. The kid had to get up and out of bed to get a glass of water, stumbling down the hall into the bathroom. Her fever had come down since that morning, but it was still high enough to be concerning. She chugged the water loudly, filling and refilling the glass as she drank her fill. Then, instead of returning to her bed, she turned down the hall and entered the kitchen, placing the folder of classwork on the table.

"Kid, you should be resting."

She groaned as she looked for a pencil. "But if I don't do it now, I won't do it at all."

Well.

Pakkun leapt up onto the table, keeping a stern eye on the pup as she struggled through a reading assignment. She circled the kanji she didn't know in red pen, saving them for the end as she always did. Genius though she clearly was—no child of Kakashi's would be anything different, adopted or not—she had very good study habits. Pakkun knew how many kanji workbooks she'd gone through just to pass the reading comprehension test the academy set out for her, and he couldn't help but be impressed with her diligence. It would have been so easy to play the eccentric genius card and simply skipped the academy altogether—Kakashi would have helped, the enabling fool—but she seemed to favor the slow and steady route, doing everything one step at a time.

Her handwriting had certainly benefited from that mentality. Slow, even strokes, everything in its place. If he didn't know better, he might have thought the kanji printed rather than handwritten.

"Pakkun," she wheezed, pushing her homework toward him. "What does this one mean?"

He glanced at the kanji. "In that context it's 'expensive'."

She whispered her thanks and continued reading, mumbling to herself as she went.

Yes, she could have graduated without ever setting foot in the academy, but she seemed to genuinely enjoy the learning material. Over the last six months, she'd begun collecting (simple) books on the history of Konoha and the shinobi system, reading them with an avarice that might have concerned him if he wasn't acutely aware of how quickly her reading was progressing.

It was hard not to like the pup when she was so dratted cute, but Pakkun knew he was probably biased. As Kakashi's primary liaison with the rest of the pack, he spent the most time out and about. He saw a lot more of the littlest Hatake than the other dogs, and he knew that clouded his perspective. Once Kakashi came back, he'd talk him into letting the others out more, but, for now, he was on his own.

Unless…

Before he could continue down that train of thought, someone knocked on the door. Again.

"You sure are popular, today," he lamented as he jumped off the table. He brushed off her quiet apology and opened the door.

There were two people, this time, and he could already tell they would both be headaches.

"Hey, Pakkun," Naruto exclaimed while balancing a sealed bowl of what smelled like ramen on his head. "I heard Hana got sick, so I brought some ramen! Teuchi-jii-chan made it just for her!"

"Ah," Pakkun responded, turning to the other child on the doorstep as the jinchuriki ran past him. "And you?"

The dark haired kid bowed at a ninety degree angle, his braid flopping with the force of it. "Good afternoon! My name is Rock Lee and I am Hatake-san's classmate! It was my hope to share my notes with her and assist with her homework if necessary!"

"A-ah," Pakkun said, looking over his shoulder at Hanako. At her thumbs up, he nodded. "You can come in, but if you get sick, it's not our fault."

"Thank you very much for your hospitality!"

Pakkun wilted.

At least Kakashi's kid was quiet. Unless she was asking a question, she rarely spoke at home. Kakashi was also a quiet man, for the most part, so they meshed well in that sense. How such a quiet kid managed to make the loudest friends was beyond him.

"Ah, my friend, your face is uncovered!" Lee made a show of covering his eyes and Hanako laughed hoarsely.

"Don't worry about it. We're friends, right?" Lee nodded fervently, hands still pressed against his face. "Will seeing my face change that?" He shook his head. "Will it change the way you treat me?" Another dizzying shake. "Then we're good."

He lowered his hands hesitantly, wide eyes welling with tears as he took in Hanako's pale, runny nosed face. "My friend, I will not betray your trust!"

"Hey, Bushy Brows, what'd Iruka-sensei make you guys do today? He gave us a quiz!" Naruto's voice broke through whatever speech the boy might have launched into, and Pakkun didn't miss Hanako's relieved expression.

"We covered the Second Shinobi War in lecture—I know you were looking forward to that, so I took especially good notes—and then we continued our chakra training from last week."

"Eh!? You're already doing chakra training? Iruka-sensei says we can't do it until after summer break!"

Pakkun watched from the entryway as the boys chatted back and forth about their classes while Hanako helped herself to the ramen Naruto brought for her. She pointed to Lee's notes.

"What does this one say?"

"Ah, that is sakumotsu, meaning crops!"

"Sakumo…?" She raised her head and met Pakkun's gaze. "Like grandpa Sakumo?"

He nodded. "It's spelled the same."

"Huh," she cocked her head in a way so reminiscent of Kakashi Pakkun could swear he smelled him. "Crops, scarecrows, and farmland.* We're a very agricultural family, aren't we?"

Pakkun chuckled as he joined the children in the kitchen, retaking his place on the table. "Yeah. The Hatake were among the first clans to settle into a sedentary lifestyle, so it's become part of your legacy."

Her expression brightened and even her illness couldn't mask her eagerness. "Is there a book about it? The library just has stuff on the big clans, like the Hyuuga and Uchiha."

Naruto's face scrunched at that, but he didn't say anything.

Pakkun sighed. "Not likely. There might be something at the old compound, but—."

"Eh, there's a compound?"

Ah, Kakashi. What have you been doing?

"Ah," Pakkun said, suddenly tired. "The Hatake were one of the founding clans of Konoha, you know."

They clearly did not, as all three looked at him in shock.

"The only clans covered in class are the Senju and Uchiha," Lee said, a pensive look crossing his expressive face. "Do you think this one of those things that will be built upon later, like you said, dear Hatake-san? Where the younger we are, the simpler the history we learn is?"

She hummed to herself, taking another sip of her ramen's broth. "Maybe. There aren't exactly a lot of us, right now—just me and my dad—so maybe there weren't enough of us back then to make as much of a difference as the Senju and Uchiha?"

She looked to Pakkun for confirmation, but he shrugged. "Beats me kid. I wasn't exactly around at the time."

She sighed in obvious disappointment, but her expression didn't stay dark for long. "Do you think I should change my kanji to flowers? So I can match dad and grandpa?"

Eh?

"What do you mean, Hana?" Naruto asked, clearly just as confused. "Isn't your name already flowers?"

Hanako shook her head, expression sheepish. She set her ramen aside and pulled out one of the assignments her Hyuuga classmate had brought for her. There, at the top of the page, were the kanji for her name.

"Eh? Who names their kid that?"

Naruto seemed to realize just how insensitive his question was just as he finished asking it, slapping a hand over his mouth with wide eyes. Hanako took no obvious offense, though, just smiling sadly.

"Who indeed," she sighed. "That's why I asked about changing it. If it's flowers, then I match the rest of my family. And it's not like my name will change; if anything, it'll make more sense."

The others at the table were silent for a moment as they considered this.

Lee shook his head. "It is not my place to make such a decision, but I do not think you should change it. My mother has often said that a name is a prayer, and its meaning may not always be clear at first glance. Perhaps the one who named you wished for you to overcome sorrow, or something similar."

Naruto, who had been oddly silent during Lee's monologue, jumped up and nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Your name can mean whatever you want it to! Believe it!"

Hanako snorted and the tension in the room vanished. "Thanks, guys."

"Besides," Naruto shrugged. "Your name does match your dad's. You both have 'ko'!"

"His is pronounced 'shi'."

"It's still the same, though."

Pakkun sighed as the conversation turned to the various pronunciations of different kanji, something Hanako was still having trouble with. Leaping from the table, he resolved to have a long chat with Kakashi when he came home.

* * *

***These are the kanji for the names mentioned in the chapter above.**

**悲子 Hana Ko Sorrow Child**

**畑ケ Hata Ke Farmland**

**案山子 Kakashi Scarecrow**

**作物 Sakumo(tsu) Crops**

**Also! Please let me know whose perspective you want to see next. If enough people ask for the same one, I'll definitely do it! Ciao!**


	7. It's Not Just Sasuke

**The next one will be Kakashi, I promise. I was already almost done with this one by the time you guys started asking for him, so I figured I;d just finish it. I hope Neji isn't too OOC. He is only sevenish, and had all that proper clan upbringing, so I figured this would be ok. Let me know!**

* * *

Neji Hyuuga sighed.

Class had been released for the lunch period and he was practicing on the training grounds, as was his custom. Unfortunately, a group of girls now sat in his periphery, giggling amongst themselves as they watched him move through the Gentle Fist's kata. They were an unwelcome distraction, and several times he found himself fumbling.

"Excuse me, Neji-san?"

He whirled around, a growl on his lips. "What?"

The girl in front of him was not one of his usual admirers. Short and slender with wild brown hair and eyes as dark as his were pale, Hanako Hatake took a step back from his ire, her straight brows creasing in concern.

"Sorry to interrupt your training," she said, drawing idle lines in the soil with her foot. "I just wanted to say thank you for bringing me the work I missed while I was sick. I really appreciate it."

Ah. Yes, he'd forgotten about that. He wasn't sure why Iruka-sensei had asked him to do it when she had friends in the class, but he'd done it, regardless.

"You're better now."

She smiled, the expression clear despite her mask. "Un! Ah, I wanted to give you this, as thanks!"

She held out a sleek box, the kanji for thank you written across it in her neat, deliberate hand. He took it, ignoring the angry hiss from his fanclub.

She smiled up at him again. "I'll let you go back to your training, then. Thanks again!" She turned and skipped away, joining the class failure with a laugh as they headed back to the classroom. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen the failure on the training grounds as often as he once had. Perhaps he'd seen the error of his ways and accepted his fate?

Amused, Neji opened the box, expecting food of some sort—his admirers never gave him anything else, regardless of how many times he tossed it out, uneaten. Inside lay a set of hand wraps and a booklet titled 'Taijutsu of the World: Pocket Edition'. The surprisingly considerate gift caught him off guard, and he found himself following after her to give his own thanks in return.

It was only proper, after all.

Inside the classroom, she and the failure were hunched over the textbook for their next lecture, voices low and focused. Lee noticed him first, unfortunately, and a wide grin crossed his face.

"Ah, it is my rival, Hyuuga-san!"

Hatake looked up from the book then, eyes wide. "Eh? Neji-san? Is something wrong?"

"Does something need to be?" He asked dryly.

She shook her head in chagrin. "No, sorry. It's just that you normally spend the whole break training."

He nodded. "Yes, I wanted to thank you for the gift. It was…unexpected."

She broke eye contact and smiled at the ground. "Yes, well. I wasn't sure what you like, beyond taijutsu…Would you like something else?"

He shook his head. "No, this is fine. Thank you." He turned on his heel, fully intending to train for the remaining lunch period, but Iruka-sensei stepped into the classroom, signaling the end of the break. Instead, Neji returned to his seat with a sigh. The gaggle of girls had followed him back to the room and quickly dispersed to their own seats, sending heated glared Hatake's way. She ignored them, already re-engrossed in her conversation with Lee. Iruka-sensei walked up to them and Neji fully expected the chunin instructor to settle them down for the lesson. He was surprised, then, when their teacher crouched down and joined them, pointing to something in the textbook which had both children nodding. He smiled at them ad ruffled their hair before returning to the front of the classroom and writing on the board.

"Sensei," Hatake called out, her voice still a bit rough from her illness. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course!" Iruka-sensei's expression was eager and bright. "What is it?"

"What exactly constitutes a clan?"

Neji narrowed his focus onto the conversation, striving to hear them above the sounds of children returning from play.

"Well, there are a lot of things, actually. Why the sudden interest?"

"Hatake is a clan," she said simply, fiddling with the hem of her mask in a nervous gesture. "But there are only two people in it. At what point does a family become a clan, or vice versa?"

The Hatake were a clan? Neji knew he wasn't the only person in the room not to know that, but that didn't lessen the blow to his pride. As a member of one of Konoha's most influential clans—even just the branch family—he was required to know and understand the political landscape of the village. Any misstep could have serious repercussions, after all.

Iruka-sensei nodded. "Well, there are certain population requirements when applying to establish a clan, but clans that have been in the village for at least three generations don't have one."

Hatake nodded. "That makes sense. How many clans are there in Konoha, total?"

"Oh, wow, give me a second," their sensei started mumbling under his breath and few students laughed at his expense. "Around sixty, I think?"

A large part of the class made sounds of appreciation and surprise. Even Neji had to admit he hadn't expected such a high number.

"Do they all get a seat on the council, then?" Hatake continued. "I can't imagine that's very efficient."

Iruka-sensei laughed. "No, no, they don't. The council has its own set of criteria that most clans don't meet. Now, someone remind me where we left off yesterday. We're already behind!"

Neji watched as Hatake sank back into her seat, clearly dissatisfied with the answers their sensei had given her. How odd. If the Hatake were truly a clan, as she claimed, then wouldn't she already know all that? Neji's own lack of knowledge notwithstanding, surely her family would have told her everything she needed to know.

Then again, he'd never heard of the Hatake before she joined their class. Maybe they didn't hold enough political clout to worry about such things.

The question nagged at him for the rest of the day, taking up space in the back of his mind until Iruka-sensei called everyone outside for physical training. It was the last class of the day, and most of the other students dragged their feet and complained. This time, however, many of the girls seemed oddly inspired.

"Sensei," one of them began, eyes locked on Hatake where she stood beside Lee. "Can we spar?"

Several of the other students groaned, but the girl's friends all managed to shush them through some kind of female-exclusive hive-mind. Iruka gave them a strange look, but consented, leading the way to the academy sparring arena. Immediately, the girl who'd suggested it jumped into the center of the ring and pointed at Hatake.

"Hey, Ugly, I challenge you!"

As Neji watched Hatake enter the ring under the jeers of students and their sensei's scolding, he had a sneaking suspicion he knew what this was about.

Hatake consistently maintained one of the lowest taijutsu scores in their year. Though she wasn't the worst, she was so far below average that the only people who willingly sparred with her were equally terrible. Her challenger looked far too eager for this to be a normal spar, and Neji sighed.

The Nara had it right, women were troublesome.

As soon as Iruka-sensei said 'go', Hatake leapt back into a defensive crouch, her hands held in loose fists in front of her face. Her opponent followed quickly, swinging her fists wildly without landing a hit. This continued for too long, in Neji's opinion, with both girls showing very little skill. Iruka-sensei stepped forward to call the draw, taking a moment to berate both girls for using class time to fight out their differences. Hatake's eyes were lowered despite her innocence, and Neji resolved to make it up to her, eventually. Preferably when his fans weren't around to see it.


	8. Puppy Dog Eyes

**Whoo! I'm on a roll! I'm totally using this fic as a distraction from all the essays I need to write by next Wednesday. Ssh! Don't tell my professors! Also! I made Hanako in the Sims. My profile picture should be her as a kid, and once she ages up in the story I'll change it to her adult pic. Tell me what you think!**

* * *

Kakashi crossed his arms and sighed, staring down his nose at the little girl sitting across from him on the couch. Between them, an old, tattered scroll lay unrolled across the coffee table, his name and his father's standing out on the faded, yellow parchment. Not for the first time, he actively questioned his decision to take in the kid. Giving her a home and feeding her weren't a problem, but giving her his name? Adding her to the scroll?

Sometimes, he found himself regretting bringing an end to his self-imposed solitude. There was only so much socializing he could do before it wore him down to the quick and he had to lock himself away to recharge. Luckily, his kid was the same way, and they had no issues avoiding each other even in his little apartment.

The fact that Pakkun knew her better than he did stung a little, but he couldn't help his workload. The kid never complained, though, and she was far from the only one in the village to have a parent away on missions.

His eyes refocused on her unmasked face. As flattering as her mimicry had been, he couldn't understand why she'd want to hide her face. It was obvious she'd be gorgeous one day, just like her mother, and he knew the academy's kunoichi classes cultivated physical awareness in their students. One day, a sensei or a mission would force her to remove it, and he hoped she wasn't too attached to it when it happened.

Her dark eyes met his and he realized he'd zoned out.

"Ah, sorry," he leaned forward onto his knees, running a gloved hand through his hair. "I'm still a bit out of it, I guess."

She offered him a small smile. "It's ok. I know you're probably tired." She glanced down at the scroll before looking back up at him, concerned. "Are you sure about this?"

No. He wasn't. Pakkun had insisted, though, and Kakashi valued the pug's opinion more than most humans'. As little time as he'd spent with her over the past year, he felt like he knew her pretty well from the little dog's anecdotes. He also knew that having a ninken companion could mean a world of difference for a lonely kid with an intellect beyond their peers'. Maybe he was just trying to assuage the festering guilt the thought of her alone inspired, but he could honestly say that it would do her good.

"Why?" He asked in return. "Don't kids like dogs?"

She leveled a withering glare on him, rolling her black eyes with a scoff. "These aren't normal dogs, dad." The warmth welling in his chest froze over with her next question. "It's just…don't you want to save this for your _real _kids?"

Oof.

He laughed awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck as he tried to salvage the situation. "Mah, well, you know...You look pretty real to me, kiddo."

Nailed it.

"Besides," he continued over her incredulous snort. "I already jumped through all the hoops to make you my official heir. As far as the village is concerned, you've always been a Hatake, and you'll always _be_ a Hatake until you decide otherwise." He gestured at the scroll. "This is a perk of the job."

She bit her lip. "You won't regret it?"

"No." And he meant it. As many things as he regretted, taking in a child and giving her a life worth living would never be one of them.

Hanako sighed, slumping in her seat. "If you're sure."

"Great! So, here's what you do," he guided her in writing her name in blood—her grimace made him laugh—and showed her the summoning jutsu's hand signs. "Give it a try. It's fine if you don't get it the first time, I know you haven't had much practice with chakra, yet."

She nodded, her slender fingers going through the motions slowly. "How much chakra do I need?"

He shrugged. "As much as you think feels right. We'll tweak it from there."

With a heavy exhale, she performed the jutsu in earnest, placing her palm on the apartment floor with a stern scowl of concentration. To Kakashi's surprise, smoke billowed up and around her hand, signaling a success. Her report card had indicated less than stellar chakra control, so he'd expected at least one failure, first. He was allowed to be proud of being wrong, right? That was normal, right?

The smoke cleared, revealing a small, white dog with long fur and a tan mask marking across its eyes and ears. Brown eyes looked up at a smiling Hanako.

"A Papillon!"

What.

Noticing his confusion, she gestured to the dog. "This breed is called a Papillon. It means butterfly, see?"

Kakashi supposed the markings on the dog's head _could_ be interpreted as a butterfly, if he squinted.

"They're a luxury breed," his kid continued, eyes bright with excitement. "Like Pomeranians and Samoyeds."

The dog cocked its head and let out a small, yappy bark. Hanako looked delighted and began praising it and its breed, but Kakashi was privately concerned. Pakkun had already known how to speak when he'd first summoned him. Maybe this was due to the difference in their chakra levels? Kakashi had been a well-rounded genius, unlike his oddly specialized kid. Could something like that make a difference?

Oh well, the pup would learn eventually. There was one small issue, though.

"You got a name, pup?"

The dog yapped.

Ugh.

Hanako, bless her, had much more patience than he did. Honestly, sometimes he felt like the kid in their relationship.

After a boring, drawn out game of twenty questions, Hanako established that the dog was female—or preferred female pronouns—was just about one year old and had a name starting with 'mo'.

"Momo?"

The dog shook her head.

"Moko?"

No.

"Momiji?"

Ah, she'd found it.

Kakashi watched with a smile as his kid bonded with her ninken. He could remember his own excitement from summoning Pakkun for the first time, the joy of finally having someone else in his life.

"Well, kiddo," he said, standing. "I believe this calls for a celebration." With a flourish, he summoned Pakkun, the pug looking tired and put upon until he noticed Momiji.

"Well, now," he said with a fond expression. "Looks like you finally took my advice."

Kakashi didn't dignify that with a response. "Come on, you two, we're getting barbeque."

Even Pakkun joined in the happy cheering that inspired.

The pug jumped up and settled on Kakashi's shoulders as they left the apartment. "They're a good match," he said in his human's ear. "The little one is a bit behind her littermates, but she excels at puzzle solving."

Just like his pup, then.

Pakkun laughed as if sensing his thoughts. "Your pup is catching up just fine, Kakashi. She just needs some time."

"Hn."

"KAKASHI~!"

Oh no.

Kakashi carefully schooled his features into a bored expression, raising his hand in greeting to the man who'd forced his way into his life like rockslide. "Yo, Guy."

Might Guy stood in the middle of the road with his hands on his hips, a wide smile on his masculine face. His customary green jumpsuit stood out against the bleary autumn setting, catching the eye of civilians and shinobi alike.

"My friend and rival," he began exuberantly. "How long it has been since we last met!"

"Ah."

"You have been taking on many missions, as of late! What a treat it is to see you at home!"

"Ah."

"Let us take this opportunity to settle our score! I propose a race—!"

"Daddy?"

Guy froze, fist raised above his head comically. His eyes darted down to Hanako where she stood with Momiji in her arms, her face covered by a mask just like Kakashi's. Guy leapt back, eyes bugging out of his skull.

"What is this? My friend, you have a child!?"

"Ah."

His kid laughed at Guy's expression, bowing as she introduced herself. "Hello! My name is Hanako Hatake, and this is Momiji. I summoned her all by myself!"

The childish display of pride had Kakashi smiling beneath his own mask. Guy's over the top expression of awe was likely heartfelt, and it pleased him to see his kid receiving genuine praise.

"Truly!? You are an asset to your clan, young Hanako!"

She giggled happily. "You're funny! I like you! Daddy, I like him!"

Kakashi snorted. "Ah."

"We're going to get barbeque, wanna come?"

Guy sent a questioning glance at Kakashi, who shrugged.

"It's her party, she can invite who she wants."

"Yay!" She dashed off down the street toward the restaurant, leaving the two jonin behind.

"My friend," Guy said seriously. "I did not know you had a child."

Kakashi shrugged. "Until a year ago, I didn't." At his friend's sharp glance, he sighed. "I'll tell you about it over drinks, sometime. Come on, she's waiting."


	9. Semantics

One of the strangest parts of this strange, new world was the chakra.

At first, Hanako hadn't given it much thought. She was too preoccupied with keeping a low profile while also doing justice to the Hatake reputation as a family of geniuses. They were a quality over quantity kind of family, for sure. However, after starting her first full school year at the academy a year after coming to Konoha, chakra control and manipulation had become part of the curriculum. Her taijutsu scores were below average—just how she liked them—and had been balanced out by her place at the top of academics, but now, if she wanted to maintain her place in the middle of the pack, she had to at least _somewhat_ master it. She checked out a few books in the library and inhaled as much theory as she could—never mind that many of the authors who published on chakra held _very _disparate ideas on how it actually worked.

Just like academia back home.

For the first time, Hanako felt herself at a disadvantage when compared to her peers. Chakra was just a part of life to them, using it as simple as breathing. Coming from a world where no such thing existed—or, if it did, those who could use it were rare and generally disregarded as hacks—she had to put more effort into even sensing it.

Well, she didn't _have _to. She knew she was overcomplicating it. Maybe all that theoretical study, coupled with an adult mind lacking the flexibility of youth, had done more harm than good.

Eventually, she had to swallow her pride.

"Neji-san," she said one day as the class let out for lunch. "May I ask you a question?"

The Hyuuga regarded her with his pale eyes—freaky pale, she could hardly stand to meet them—and nodded. "You may. I might not answer, though."

She laughed. "That's fair. Um," she hesitated. "Can you explain chakra to me?"

His eyebrows rose. "Explain chakra?"

Hanako sighed and looked away, scratching at the edge of her mask. "I know what chakra is, theoretically, and I know how I'm supposed to interact with it. But theory and practice are different, and I feel like I'm overthinking it, you know? I thought, since you can actually_ see_ chakra, you'd be able to explain it to me in a way that makes sense, practically."

He didn't say anything for a while, and Hanako began to fidget with nervousness.

"If you don't understand chakra, how did you summon your ninken?"

Yeah, that.

Momiji sat on the desk between them, dark eyes regarding them both serenely. Hanako absently reached out and pat her head.

"That was different, for some reason. I don't know how to explain it. Well," she corrected. "I do, but I don't have the words to do it efficiently."

"Try."

"Well, ok. It's like my chakra is a ball of yarn and I have to unravel it to use it. So, that's what I did with Momiji. But charka isn't static. It's constantly in motion, like a spiritual cardiovascular system, or something. I shouldn't have to unravel anything, right?"

She hazarded a look at Neji's face and found him pensive.

"No," he agreed. "You shouldn't. Come," he gestured for her to follow him. "Let's find a sensei and see what we can do."

Eh? "Y-you don't have to do that!" She rushed to say. "I didn't mean to cut into your training."

"You're not," he assured her. "Chakra study is training, too."

Well, when he put it like that.

She followed him meekly as he flagged down one of the chunin senseis on playground duty. He explained the situation shortly and then lead both Hanako and the sensei to the training area.

So much for keeping a low profile. If word got out that Kakashi's kid had trouble with her chakra, his reputation would certainly suffer. A ball of guilt began growing in the pit of her stomach.

"Hatake."

Neji's voice pulled her from her wallowing. "Y-yes?"

"Use your chakra."

He followed the curt order with an activation of his Byakugan. It was the first time she'd seen it in real life, and it was freaky. Not something she wanted to ever see again, if she was honest. Blegh.

She shook off her disgust and closed her eyes, forming a hand sign as she mentally delved into herself in search of the mysterious power source that was chakra. In her mind's eye, she pictured it the way the anime had displayed it: as a network of light starting at her navel and traveling through her body like another bodily system. She pulled at the pool of light in her belly and coaxed it into her extremities.

"Stop."

Concentration broken, Hanako could practically feel the alien substance shrink back into itself.

Neji was shaking his head when she opened her eyes, his Byakugan still active. "That doesn't make sense," he said. "Your chakra looks normal when you aren't using it, but the moment you started to channel it, it pulled itself back. What were you trying to do?"

"Eh? Ah, well," she looked at the supervising sensei, who just looked intrigued. "I was trying to spread it."

"Spread it?" Neji's eyes were sharp.

"Um, yes. It starts here, right?" She placed a hand on her stomach. "So, I was trying to make it go…"

She trailed off as Neji shook his head.

"No," he said, exasperated. "Chakra doesn't _start_, it just is. Does your blood start somewhere? Can you decide its point of origin?"

She knew what he was getting at, but, "Yes, it starts in the marrow."

His freaky eyes widened. "What?"

"Blood cells are created in the bone marrow," she continued. "And then released into the bloodstream. The electrical impulses which move our muscles start in the brain and travel to nerve endings which force our bodies into action. Oxygen starts in air but is pulled in to blood stream via specialized cells which exchange it for carbon dioxide. Everything has a point of origin," she clenched her fists and scrunched her face as she held Neji's gaze. "Why should chakra be exempt? It's a bodily system, right?"

Both Neji and the chunin sensei looked at her like she'd grown an extra head. Then, the sensei laughed.

"Oh, wow, you Hatake's sure don't do things by halves, do you?"

She wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but she was taking it as a compliment.

The sensei crouched down between the two students, a smile on his face. "Now, Hatake-chan, what you're saying is technically correct, but you're overthinking it." Well, duh, she knew that. "Do you need to know how your lung work to breathe?"

"Breathing is an involuntary process controlled by the brain stem," she replied. "We don't control it."

"No," the sensei agreed. "But you _can_ affect _how_ you breathe, right? Whether its deep or shallow, or how long to hold it, right? Chakra is the same way. Its flow is an involuntary process you can learn to affect manually."

That made sense. "But, how? How do I affect it without disrupting its primary functions? Breathe too fast or not enough and you pass out!"

The sensei nodded with a growing smile. "The same thing can happen with chakra. Young Hyuuga-kun, here, has an instinctive understanding of how much chakra he can safely use and how to use it—that's probably why you asked him for help, right?—but even he is limited by how much chakra he actually has. That's why we start small, so you can build up your chakra reserves and jutsus won't knock you out."

Hanako nodded. "Like holding your breath."

"Yes, exactly!"

"I still don't know how to actually get to my chakra, though."

The sensei snorted. "Now, that _is_ something Hyuuga-kun can help you with. Come on, start again."


	10. Bugs are People Too

Hanako groaned. Her head pounded and her stomach roiled in protest to her overuse of chakra, her fingertips burning oddly. She threw herself back onto the grass, spread eagled.

"Why isn't anything working?"

Momiji said nothing, snoring lightly where she slept beside her.

Hanako had spent the last…however long trying to figure out what her tattoos meant, if anything. She'd tried shoving chakra into them, but so far all she'd managed to do was make them glow in a move reminiscent of Aang's avatar state. While that was cool, it wasn't what she'd been going for. She rolled over and dragged a book on seals over to her. Her tattoos could mean anything, but seals made the most sense in her mind, so she was starting there. Everything she read had suggested that filling the ink with chakra was the right thing to do, though some seals required a vocal release or a hand sign. Without either of those, she was stuck.

"Argh!" She sat up with a yell, running her hands through her hair in a frantic motion. "Why is this so hard? Aren't kekkei genkai supposed to come naturally?"

Momiji said nothing.

Hanako huffed in annoyed frustration. Her head hurt, her stomach hurt, her skin hurt, her _pride_ hurt. What was the point of maintaining her adult mind when it didn't _do_ anything?

An insect landed on her knee, its shiny carapace catching the light.

"Hello, bug," she said with a smile. "Do _you_ have any ideas?"

The bug said nothing.

Oh, well, it was worth a shot. You never knew which animal might talk in this weird ninja world, but sometimes a bug was just a bug.

Hanako held out a finger to the beetle and it crawled happily onto her nail, little feet tickling her chakra sensitive skin.

"How lucky you are, Mr. Bug," she sighed. "I bet _you_ don't have to worry about things like kekkei genkai, huh?"

The bug said nothing, crawling its way across the back of her hand. She twisted her hand as it trekked over her palm—and into her tattoo.

Into her tattoo.

Into. Her. Tattoo.

_!?_

She leapt to her feet, shaking her hand wildly, absolutely positive she could feel little buggy feet underneath her _skin_. She poked at the ink on her palm, moaning in distress when her fingers hit flesh. Momiji watched her with obvious concern, awakened by her human's distress.

"Miji!" Hanako exclaimed, tears streaming down her face. "D-do you know where the Ab-burame live?"

* * *

Shino Aburame watched as his father struggled to keep his composure. Well, Shino knew he was struggling. To anyone else he likely looked as stoic as ever, face hidden by a high collar and dark sunglasses.

"Did you say there is an insect inside your tattoo?"

The little girl who'd barged her way into the Aburame compound nodded desperately, tears falling freely from dark eyes. Her face was also hidden by a mask which was quickly becoming soaked by her upset. "I-I don't know h-how it happened! I was t-trying to figure out my t-tattoos and then—." She clutched at her wrist, holding her hand to her chest as if she'd injured it.

Shino's father, Shibi, sighed and turned to him. "Do you know her? She's around your age."

Shino shook his head. "I've seen her at the academy, but she isn't in my class."

The older man sighed so quietly, it was unlikely the girl could hear it. The dog she'd brought with her, however, had no such handicap. The fancy looking thing yipped indignantly, calling attention to itself as it began dragging its paw across the tatami floor in squares.

Shino's father stiffened beside him. "Hatake? This is Kakashi's child?"

The dog yipped in affirmative. The little girl, however, looked terrified.

"Daddy isn't here," she said with a sob. "He's on a mission."

Shibi sighed. "Child, you need to calm down. Why? Because I can't help you if I don't know what happened."

She sniffed, rubbing at her eyes roughly. "I-I'm sorry. I j-just—I don't know if there's oxygen in there." She looked up at Shibi with imploring dark eyes. "The b-bug might d-die! I d-don't want to k-kill it!"

Shino felt his eyebrows rise. A girl who didn't want to kill an insect? Who rushed to his clan for help in order to keep from doing so?

How strange. How…novel.

Shibi reached out a hand to the girl. "Give me your hand. Why? So I may see this 'tattoo."

She did so, without hesitation. From his place beside his father, Shino could see a bold black mark on her palm which flowed down the inside of her wrist and disappeared into the sleeve of her pale green haori. The tattoo was rounded, with swirling symbols dancing along its edges. It almost looked like text, of some sort, but Shino couldn't read it.

"Hmm," Shibi pressed his fingers against the tattoo. "You say it went inside?"

The girls had calmed significantly from her previous hysteria, but she was still sniffling. "Mhmm, like—like it walked over a corner." She used her other hand to demonstrate vaguely. "Like the e-edge of the tattoo was the l-lip of a b-bowl, or something."

Shibi hummed again. "What were you doing when it happened?"

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I was trying to f-figure out what my tattoos are f-for. My m-mom died before she c-could tell me, so I…" She shrugged. "I thought they m-might be seals, or something, s-so I tried putting chakra in them."

Shibi nodded along as she spoke. "Can you do it again? Why? So we may see it for ourselves."

The girl hesitated before nodding. "I can try. I'm not very good at chakra manipulation, though."

Shino watched as the girl scrunched her eyes shut. The kikaichu inside him buzzed in response to her use of chakra, and his eyes widened at the spectacle.

Her tattoos were glowing.

Light was shining from beneath her clothing, going all the way up her arms and along her legs. Shibi kept his eyes trained in the hand he held, but Shino couldn't take his eyes off the girl. As if she could feel the weight of his stare, her eyes snapped open. Shino gasped.

Her black eyes were glowing the same bluish off-white as her tattoos, her pupils barely visible under the light. She held his gaze for a moment then looked to his father.

"Is it working?"

Shibi placed his hand against her glowing palm and then into it. The girl's expression twisted into something akin to pain and the glow began to fade. Shino watched, fascinated, as his father pulled his fingers from the glowing ink, an iridescent beetle clinging to the fabric of his glove.

The girl's eyes locked onto the beetle, her expression slowly morphing from pain to joy. "That's him! You saved him!" She leaned forward onto her hands and knees, bringing her face right up to Shibi's hand. "He's alive!"

Shibi chuckled. "So he is."

Shino didn't notice his father's sidelong glance. If he had, he might have had the wherewithal to be embarrassed by his obvious staring. He didn't, though, and the girl didn't notice him, either.


	11. Friendship

**Can you tell I'm procrastinating? Three chapters in one day, you guys. Ugh. It's not my fault Naruto is more interesting than the historiography of nature in modernity.**

* * *

Naruto fidgeted in his seat. Today was the day, and he couldn't wait! His excitement was obvious—he wasn't even trying to hide it—and Sakura-chan sighed loudly beside him.

"Will you calm down, Naruto?" She asked angrily. "You're being distracting!"

"Sorry, Sakura-chan! I'm just so excited!" He clenched his fists as he smiled. "Today's the day!"

"The day for what?" She asked, slender brows scrunching in confusion. "What's happening today?"

Naruto held a finger over his lips. "It's a secret!"

"You better not be planning some juvenile prank!" She yelled. "Some of us are trying to learn, here!"

He folded his hand behind his head, leaning back in his seat. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see, huh?"

She growled his name under her breath, clearly about to launch into another tirade, when Iruka-sensei cleared his throat.

"If I could have your attention class, today we're going to be doing something a little different for you taijutsu segment. One of the older classes will be joining us, so I expect you to be on your best behavior, got it?"

The class began to buzz with excitement.

"GOT IT?"

Everyone nodded their heads meekly.

"Ahem," Iruka-sensei picked up a clip board and opened the door to the hall. "Go on then, get to the practice field."

Naruto launched himself from his seat, rushing through the door and down the hall. Iruka-sensei's voice followed him, but he ignored it.

Today was the day!

He burst out onto the practice field with a yell, catching the attention of the other kids already out there. None of them mattered, though. There was only one person he was looking for.

"Hana-chan!" He cried, wrapping his arms around the smaller child's neck and rubbing his face against her curly brown hair. "I missed you!"

She swatted at him with a laugh. "Naruto, what are you talking about? You saw me yesterday."

He loosened his grip enough to lean back and smile down at her. "Yesterday was forever ago!"

She smiled back up at him, her expression partially hidden by her mask. "You're silly."

Naruto's own smile widened, but before he could speak—

"Naruto! What did I say?"

He was pulled off of Hanako by the back of his neck, Iruka-sensei glaring down at him angrily.

"You can't just go racing off like that! You could have hurt someone!"

Naruto wiggled in his sensei's grasp. "Let me go! It's just Hana, jeez!"

Iruka-sensei looked like he might explode, but Hana intervened. "It's alright, sensei. I don't mind."

With a huff, Iruka-sensei set Naruto down and went to speak to the other chunin sensei. Naruto grinned at his friend. His _friend_. He never thought he'd have one of those. Sure, there were people who didn't treat him like dirt—he was lucky some of them were in his class—but that didn't mean they went out of their way to be kind to him. Not like Hanako. He'd never seen her look at him with hatred or disgust. Exasperation, maybe, but never anything worse. She was the best!

"Hey, Naruto, who's the girlfriend?"

He turned to see Kiba Inuzuka heading their way, the rest of the 'Naruto's not that bad' group trailing behind him.

"Oi, Kiba," he exclaimed with a wide smile. "Hana has a ninken, too! You should be friends!"

The lazy smirk on Kiba's face fell into open mouthed surprise. On his head, Akamaru mewled.

Hana laughed, raising a hand over her mouth despite the mask. "Oh, how cute! Momiji, come say hi." The fluffy white dog trotted out from behind her human, the long fur on her ears swishing like a human girl's hair.

Hana smiled up at Kiba, totally aware of the flush on his tattooed face and ignoring it. Ha! "My name is Hanako Hatake, it's nice to meet some of Naruto's friends."

They weren't his friends, though, and they knew that, if their uncomfortable expressions were anything to go by. Kiba stammered nervously.

"I-I'm Kiba I-Inuzuka, and this is A-Akamaru!" The puppy yipped.

Hanako smiled. "Eh, my grandmother was an Inuzuka! Maybe we're related?"

Kiba looked away. "Y-yeah, maybe."

Hana looked past the blushing fool and her eyes brightened. "Ah, Aburame-san! Hello! How are your kikaichu?"

The quiet Shino stepped past Kiba with a hum. "They are well and thank you for asking."

"It'd be kind of rude not to, since they can understand me, right?"

Shino nodded.

Naruto cocked his head, eyes squinting in the way Hana assured him looked like those fox masks at festivals. "Eh, you guys know each other?"

Hana nodded eagerly. "Yep! His dad helped me out with something when daddy was away on a mission." Her black eyes were bright with excitement. "Remind me to show you after school, ok?"

Naruto held out his thumb. "You got it!"

"Who are the rest of your friends?" She asked, turning her gaze on the other boys. "I don't think I've had a chance to meet them on my own."

Shikamaru and Chouji introduced themselves, and Hana's face lit up in recognition. "Ah! I know you! Your dad was my Uncle Guy's jounin sensei! Team Chouza!"

Chouji actually paused in eating his chips—salt and vinegar, yuck! "_Might Guy_ is your uncle?"

"Well, not by blood." Hana shrugged. "He's my dad's best friend, though, so he might as well be, you know?"

Chouji nodded. "That makes sense. Guy-nii-san's never mentioned a niece."

Hana laughed. "That _is_ the kind of thing he'd shout from the rooftops, huh?"

"Hey, guys, what's going on?"

Everyone turned to see Ino and some of the other girls approaching. Sasuke-teme was off to one side, lurking on the edge of the group, as always.

"Hey, Ino-chan," Hana said happily. "How have you been?"

Ino smiled in greeting. "Oh, hey Hanako-chan, it's been a while."

Naruto watched the friendly conversation with a mixture of awe and horror. Ino Yamanako was being nice to another girl? A quick glance at Shikamaru confirmed he was just as surprised. Not a genjutsu, then.

"How do you know so many of my classmates, Hana?"

She gave him a quizzical look. "I only know two of them, Naruto. Just Aburame-san and Ino-chan. Although," she gave the gathered kids a smile. "I guess I know more of them, now, huh?"

"Hey, um," Kiba's blush had never really faded, but it was back in full force. "How'd you get a ninken? Is because of your grandma?"

Hanako reached down and picked up Momiji, cradling the fancy dog against her chest. "Nope. My clan has a summoning contract with dogs. Momiji's the first dog I summoned on my own."

Momiji looked at Kiba for a long moment, then at Akamaru, then stuck her pointed nose in the air with a snooty huff. Her human looked at her with wide eyed surprise before bursting into laughter.

"I guess there's some rivalry, there, huh?"

Kiba didn't say anything, his face practically a tomato.

"What is this? My friend is making more friends? How joyous!"

Naruto barely managed to dodge as Rock Lee jumped into the group. The others weren't so lucky, catching the brunt of Lee's exuberant personality—and his feet.

"I am Rock Lee!" He shouted. "It is good to make your acquaintance!"

Naruto took the opportunity to hang back from the crowd, dragging Hana with him. She shot him a grateful glance, letting Momiji down onto the grass.

"Thanks, Naruto. Things were getting a little crowded in there."

The chunin senseis stepped in, then, and managed to wrangle everyone into four person groups, with two students from each class. Naruto was in a group with Hana! But also Sasuke-teme. The Hyuuga standing with Hana sighed.

"I feel the need to apologize in advance," he said to the only girl in their group. "They will not be kind."

Hana waved away his concerns, whatever they were. "Don't worry about it, Neji-san. I know it's not your fault."

"Hn."

What?

Iruka-sensei started talking before he could ask. "Ok, kids, we're going to do a team fighting exercise. Fighting as a ninja won't always be one-on-one, so you have to get used to fighting with someone by your side, and against multiple opponents. Now, don't get discouraged if you lose, this is a team building exercise, not a contest."

Like anyone would listen to that. Naruto glared at Sasuke-teme.

"What do you want, dobe?"

"Hey, now," Hanako scolded gently. "That's no way to talk to your friends."

"He's not my friend." Naruto and Sasuke-teme glared at each other, bristling at their perfectly timed jinx.

Hana sighed. "You don't have to be. In fact, rivals tend to do better at these kinds of exercises. You spend so much time fighting that your understanding of each other's body language becomes second to none."

"You're saying they have an advantage," the Hyuuga didn't sound happy.

"No, I'm saying they _could_ have an advantage if they set aside their mutual dislike for more than five seconds." She shrugged. "It doesn't look like they will, though."

Oh, she was on!

Sasuke-teme and Naruto shared a glance, clearly thinking along the same lines. As soon as the senseis gave the go ahead, they leapt forward and—

Missed.

"What?" Naruto watched as his friend literally span away from him, standing on her toes with her feet at odd angles. Her hands were clasped behind her back, leaving her entire upper body open to attack. Once out of range, she stopped, knees bent, spine stretched elegantly. Her partner, on the other hand, wasted no time retaliating against Sasuke-teme, pressing against him with open palms.

"You're not going to fight?" He asked Hanako as he wound up for another go.

She shook her head. "Violence should never be a first resort."

Sasuke-teme snorted as he dodged. "You sound like my brother."

Naruto tried to take advantage of her distraction, but she still managed to twirl away. How was she doing that?

"Don't you want to know how to fight, just in case you have to use your _last_ resort?" He kept after her, lunging wildly in a way he knew would make Iruka-sensei sigh.

"Not really," she said with an evenness that pissed him off, just a little. "I don't really need to, anyway."

"What do you—oof!"

She'd ducked under another of his punches, spinning on the balls of her feet so she was standing behind her Hyuuga partner. Naruto dove after her and took a palm to the face. He stumbled back, tripping over Sasuke-teme who was trying to land a kick on Hana now that she stood between him and his target.

They fell to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.

The Hyuuga huffed. "Pathetic."

"Neji-san! That was rude!" Hanako held out her hands to them with a smile. "Are you guys ok?"

Sasuke-teme growled and swat away her hand, leaping to her feet. "Back off, we're not done, yet!"

Naruto scrambled up, too. "Yeah!"

Hanako withdrew her hands, meeting her partner's pale gaze. He scoffed.

"Why should we waste our time on failures like you? You can't even land a hit."

"Neji-san!"

"Tch."

Hanako offered Naruto and Sasuke-teme a small smile. "Don't worry about him, just come at us again, ok?"

They did. This time Naruto tried to predict which way she would spin. Turns out, knowing something and being able to act on it are two different things. He overreached trying to stop her from dodging, rolling his ankle and falling onto his face.

"Naruto! Are you alright?"

Just as her knees hit the ground, he whipped an arm out and pressed her back into the grass, his forearm against her throat. Her black eyes were wide and her mask was starting to slip.

"Gotcha."

Her laughter rang out across the practice field, and Naruto felt lighter than he ever had before.


	12. Innocence Lost

**Guess who's still procrastinating? Lol, I finished an essay and wrote this up to decompress before I start the next. Enjoy!**

* * *

Hanako bit her lip beneath her mask. Today was her first official kunoichi class, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. She'd always taken a bit of umbrage at the segregated nature of the academy classes, but it was a little difficult now since the girls were technically learning _more_ than their male counterparts. There were still fewer female shinobi than male, though, and the extra lessons they received were heavily geared toward enforcing societal gender norms. But there were also lots of shinobi who didn't conform, male and female alike.

So, should she really be mad?

Yes.

Why could be established later, when she gave it more thought. For now, she could honestly say the system as it was upset her.

At the front of the classroom, a kunoichi sensei stood in front of a grand display of the arts. There were musical instruments, flowers, calligraphy sets, and more. All the girls in their year were in the classroom, giggling and mingling among themselves. Hanako sat alone, just barely realizing that all her friends—aside from Momiji and Ino-chan—were male. Oh, well.

"Alright, girls," their kunoichi sensei said with a clap of her hands. "Pay attention. My name is Akari Tanaka and I will be teaching your kunoichi classes until your graduation. Let's take this opportunity to get to know each other, ok? Get into your seats and we'll begin introductions."

Ugh. Everyone's least favorite part of the school year. At least they would only need to this once, if Hanako understood it right. Dedicating one sensei per group didn't really sound like a good idea, but, if the dropout rate for female students was as high as the data indicated, then Akari-sensei would only have a handful of students by the time their year graduated.

The girl beside her nudged her and Hanako realized she'd spaced out.

"Ah, sorry," she scratched the back of her neck as the other girls laughed at her expense. "My name is Hanako Hatake. It's nice to meet you."

"Any hobbies you'd like to share with the class?" Akari-sensei prompted. It was likely more for her benefit as a teacher than anything else, but Hanako obliged.

"I like reading," she said with a shrug. "Mostly histories and chakra theories. Boring stuff."

The girls giggled again, but Akari-sensei silenced them with a glare. "What kind of theories?"

Hanako shrugged. "I just finished Himari Hyuuga's thesis on tenketsu and the inheritability of chakra capacity. She has some interesting ideas on the effects of epigenetics on chakra potential."

Akari-sensei's brown eyes widened in surprise, but she schooled her expression quickly. "I see. And what did you think of her conclusion on tenketsu stimulation during pregnancy?"

Hanako snorted. "Totally unfounded. Her sample size isn't nearly large enough and she just dismisses the outliers out of hand. She uses anecdotal evidence way too liberally for me to accept it."

Akari-sensei didn't even try to hide her delight. "Incredible. Have you read Umeko Mikado's _Reproductive Chakra_?"

Hanako smiled. "Yeah! Definitely a worthwhile addition to the literature, even if she did use a popular publisher."

The chunin kunoichi looked like she wanted to say more but stopped herself. "Very interesting, Hatake-chan. Please, stay after class; I have a few reading suggestions you might enjoy."

Well, maybe these kunoichi classes wouldn't be so terrible, after all.

Once everyone had introduced themselves, Akari-sensei drew their attention to the collection of items behind her.

"Girls, I want each of you to come up and choose three things: one musical instrument, one traditional art, and one domestic skill. Don't rush, and remember, you can always change your mind if what you chose doesn't suit you. Begin!"

Hanako hesitated. Many of the other girls rushed to the front, clamoring for the 'best' items. There likely weren't even enough objects for each of them to take one. With that in mind, Hanako simply waited for the crowd to disperse before going up to make her choice. Just as she'd suspected, all the items were still there. They were choosing for their teacher's benefit, not because they were starting right away.

There were a lot of things Hanako didn't recognize on display—likely a result of her Wester upbringing—but there were a few things she could name. The koto and shamisen, a bunch of different sized flutes, drums, a sewing kit, a weird whisk, ink and calligraphy brushes, etcetera, etcetera.

None of them looked like any fun, if she was honest. She'd played piano…_before…_but she wasn't sure that knowledge would transfer to any of the instruments in front of her.

Maybe the koto? It was a two-handed instrument, right?

Right.

Decision made, Hanako turned to the other objects. The whisk was nagging at her. Where had she seen…?

Ah! Tea ceremony!

Thank you, Ouran Highschool Host Club.

Tea ceremony was fancy, in a tedious, unforgiving way. Again, not exactly her idea of fun, but it _was_ the kind of thing clan heiresses learned, right?

Right.

Finally, she resolved to pick something that at least had the _potential_ to be interesting. Maybe embroidery? Or cooking?

She picked up a miniature loom. Did people still weave their own cloth nowadays? Or was that just a skill kunoichi were expected to learn? Sounded pretty outdated to her, but…

Shrugging, she set it down and walked up to Akari-sensei. The older woman smiled.

"Made your choices?"

"Un," Hanako looked for her name on a list her sensei handed her, then wrote the koto, tea ceremony, and weaving.

Akari-sensei's eyebrows rose as she read her choices. "These are very traditional, Hatake-chan. Are you sure about these?"

"You said I could change my mind, right?"

The chunin nodded. "I did. Very well, go take your seat. We'll set up our study groups for the rest of the school year."

* * *

Hanako jumped into a puddle, humming happily to herself. School had let out a couple of hours ago, and the sun had almost finished setting behind Hokage mountain. Oh well, it wasn't like Kakashi was home, anyway.

Akari-sensei was easily her favorite teacher now. Not once had she questioned Hanako's ability to understand the subject matter, only suggesting new books and articles and even writing up a pass that would give her access to the more restricted areas of the village library.

Definitely her favorite.

She was so preoccupied with her own happiness, she almost didn't notice Momiji stop dead in her tracks.

Almost.

"What is it 'Miji?" She asked, walking back to where her ninken stood stiff as a board, her nose twitching frantically. "Are you ok?"

The dog looked her dead in the eye for a solid minute before scratching out a kanji in the mud.

Hanako's blood ran cold.

Yanking her partner up off the ground, she sprinted down the street. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she felt like her lungs had frozen in her chest.

There was no way. It couldn't be happening. Not yet. She wasn't ready.

Like the universe cared.

She slid as she rounded a corner, nearly dropping Momiji with a yelp. Ahead of her, the gates to the Uchiha compound loomed.

There was nothing she could do. She knew that. She could barely even use her chakra right, and the academy definitely didn't teach any jutsu worth using against _Itachi_. She'd probably die before she could try anything. She knew that.

Something squelched under her foot and she was glad she'd never let anyone cow her into wearing sandals. Closed toe shoes were a blessing.

She refused to look at the shadowy lumps in her peripheral vision, shutting out Momiji's whimpers as she tried desperately to remember that scene. It was an open road, probably near the main house.

Damn it, why couldn't the anime be geographically consistent?

She finally allowed herself to stop, taking in deep, body aching breaths. In her arms, Momiji squirmed.

"Miji," she gasped. "You need to go get help. You need to go get someone strong."

The dog didn't reply, but she did wriggle her way out of Hanako's grip and run back the way they'd come. Hopefully whoever she got would take her seriously.

Without Momiji's weight to occupy them, Hanako's hands began to shake.

No! Not yet! She had to find—!

Were those voices?

She quieted her breathing with some difficulty, but once she'd managed it the low murmur of a conversation became clear enough to follow.

She bolted.

She didn't even think as she came upon the Uchiha brothers, one in open anguish and the other hiding behind a mask of indifference. Her body moved on its own as she threw herself between them, arms thrown wide as she planted her feet in front of Sasuke and leveled her sharpest glare on the man who'd carried her mother's corpse to the village.

"Leave him alone!" She yelled, panting heavily. Her whole body shook with panic and exertion, shoulder rising with the force of her noisy gasps for air. Itachi regarded her with wide eyed surprise, the red of his Sharingan glinting in the moonlight.

"Hanako," he began, taking a step toward her.

"Don't come any closer," she commanded, channeling all as much of her adult bearing as her child body could project, keenly aware of the shaking fists taking hold of her shirt. "Just leave. Momiji's bringing back up, so go while you still can."

He regarded her oddly. "Shouldn't you be trying to stall me? I'll escape if I go now." He took another step.

She raised her chin defiantly. "Keep your distance!"

"Or what?" He laughed, and Hanako had to wonder just how badly the massacre had broken him. "What can a couple of kids do to me?" Another step.

Hanako resisted the urge to retreat, mind racing for some way to make him leave. She was so stupid. He wasn't gonna hurt Sasuke, anyway. Why did she have to insert herself into a problem that didn't need solving?

She grit her teeth as he continued his approach, reaching into herself and uncoiling her chakra. Neji would scold her for doing it wrong, but right then the results mattered more than the method. Her skin burned as her tattoos started to glow, the light shining through her clothing. Sasuke gasped and Itachi stopped an arm's length away, tomoe spinning lazily in his eyes.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but the braying of hounds interrupted him. He looked up sharply and vanished, the dirt beneath his feet puffing up into a little cloud.

Hanako was absolutely certain she would have fallen to her knees right then and there had Sasuke not beaten her to it, crumpling into a sobbing heap against her calves. She turned around and embraced him, tucking his head beneath her chin. She watched with watery eyes as Tsume Inuzuka and a pack of giant ninken burst onto the scene, all snarling anger and shock.

Too late. They'd come too late. But at least they'd come.


	13. Empathy

**I struggled with this one, big time. I wanted to keep my once a week schedule, but I just couldn't bring myself to publish. I'm still not happy with it, to be honest. Oh well. We're gonna have a time skip here soon. Then the good stuff can happen!**

* * *

Kakashi held his head in his hands, mind carefully blank as Tsume Inuzuka slid into the chair across from him. Distantly, he was aware of his kid's chakra in the next room. Pakkun and Momiji sat on the table, the latter looking rather wilted.

"So," he began, raising his head to meet the Inuzuka clan head's intense gaze. "Want to tell me why I can't take my kid?"

The woman snorted, crossing strong arms over her chest. "Don't play that game with me, Kakashi. You know damn well, why."

Yes, he supposed he did. Reading a report wasn't the same as being told, though, and he said as much.

Tsume sighed, suddenly looking just as worn as Kakashi felt. "The Yamanaka want her here until they can rule out any permanent trauma, same with the Uchiha brat. The dogs seem to be helping so," she shrugged. "That brat of yours is really something, though."

Kakashi smiled despite himself. "Ah, I know."

He'd already learned of Momiji's desperate flight across the village, raising hell in the Inuzuka compound until the clan head herself was mobilized. The Uchiha compound was still tightly sealed, but he'd managed a glimpse as he'd returned to the village, called back by emergency missive with no explanation beyond _Hanako_.

Was it wrong to be relieved? So many dead and he could feel nothing but joy that his kid wasn't among them.

His tongue felt fat in his mouth, and he took a deep, steadying breath.

Why the _hell_ had she been at the Uchiha compound, anyway?

"Do you know—."

A loud crash in the other room interrupted him and Tsume was on her feet almost faster than he could follow.

Almost.

He stood in the doorway as the Inuzuka head wrestled with what looked like her kid and Sasuke Uchiha, pulling them off of each other with a feral growl.

"Kiba," she snarled. "What is going on here?"

The boy hung limply in his mother's grasp, sharp eyes locked on the squirming Uchiha. "He started it! Stupid hit Hatake-chan for no reason!"

Sure enough, Hanako was sitting on the ground, eyes wide and watering with a hand on her unmasked cheek. Kakashi took advantage of Tsume's preoccupation and approached his daughter, placing a gloved hand on her head.

"Hey, pup," he said with false cheer. "Got any insight?"

She blinked. Black eyes met his with unnerving calm. "Sasuke-san's allowed to be angry."

Tsume's brat growled. "That doesn't mean he can hit you! You didn't even do anything!"

Her curly hair tickled Kakashi's palm as she shook her head. "No, I was insensitive. I shouldn't have said what I did." She looked up at Kakashi without prompting. "I said he shouldn't be thinking of revenge. It was poorly timed, so his anger is understandable."

Her bottom lip quivered and she sniffed loudly. In a rare display of vulnerability, she held her hands out to him in the universal signal for 'pick me up'. He complied, holding her loosely as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"What took you so long?" She whispered just loud enough to hear.

"Mah," he said with a humorless chuckle. "They wouldn't let me in."

She tucked her head under his chin with a sniff, probably wiping her nose on his shirt. Brat.

Tsume released the boys, sending them to the ground with twin thuds. Kiba was back on his feet in an instant, clearly used to such rough handling. He spared a glance for the other child before rushing over to Kakashi, stopping just within arm's reach.

"Is…is she ok?"

Kakashi sighed for the umpteenth time. "I dunno. Kid, you ok?"

She nodded. "I'm alright, Kiba-san. Thank you."

Kakashi watched as the Inuzuka brat rubbed at his nose as a blush spread across his face and marveled at the protective rush which had him swelling to his full height. Was this normal? It couldn't be normal. They weren't even ten—childish crushes were perfectly acceptable at their age, right?

Mah, he'd worry about that later, when his kid wasn't trying her hardest not to cry.

Sasuke Uchiha sat morosely on the floor, his dark eyes set in an unfocused glare. There were tears in his eyes, too, but Kakashi was far less moved by them than Hanako's. Still, he supposed he should show a little sympathy. The kid had survived a harrowing ordeal, the likes of which had never been seen in Konoha, before. Hanako was right, his behavior was excusable to a certain extent.

Balancing his kid on his hip, Kakashi walked over to the glowering child and crouched down beside him. "Hey. You got anything to say?"

The boy's expression twisted. "No."

Kakashi felt his brow rise. "Really?" He ignored Hanako's little hands smacking at his chest. "You're allowed to be upset, you know, and you're allowed to show it."

The boy leveled a sneer on him and his kid, seething through grit teeth and breathing heavily. "What do you know? How could you possibly know what I'm allowed to feel?" The boy's fists were clenched tightly, fingernails digging into his palms. "None of you understand!"

Mah, he couldn't really say much to that, could he?

In his arms, Hanako pulled herself away from his chest, her black eyes puffy and red. Her voice and expression were blank as she spoke, but Kakashi's heart felt heavier than it had when she cried.

"You feel helpless," she said bluntly. "You feel small and weak and totally helpless. The people who were supposed to protect you and help you get strong are gone, and you are afraid because that means they were weak and if they were weak then what are you? You're afraid because someone did this, someone who's still out there and can come back at any time and do it to you, too. But you can't act afraid, because that means you're weak and if you're weak then they'll get you and then what? You die or get captured and taken or…something…"

Sasuke's expression had slowly turned from anger to gaping astonishment and Hanako trailed off, burying her face in Kakashi's chest again. He placed a hand on her head, patting it gently as he looked from his kid to the Uchiha. Their situations were a little similar, now that he thought about it. Hanako's family had also been killed and the perpetrator never caught. It had never occurred to him that she might still be looking over her shoulder for that invisible threat, with nothing but dogs for company. Maybe he should take some time off?

"How?" Sasuke's voice wavered, tears falling for the first time since the adults had entered the room.

Hanako shook her head, burrowing further into Kakashi's embrace instead of answering. Tsume had retrieved her son and propped him up on her hip, both Inuzuka looking down at their guests with twin expressions of suppressed curiosity.

Yeah, he should probably take some time off.


	14. It was Inevitable

If you could change anything about the village, what would it be?

That was the prompt for this year's essay contest, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had looked forward to reading what the academy students had written for weeks. His duties as Hokage kept him from interacting with the youth of Konoha as often as he would have liked, and the essays allowed him to see the village from a child's point of view. The prompt was one which had been set before, so he had a few ideas about what he would find. Most would likely be complaints about the academy or other students, and these he would turn over to the chunin in charge of such things; others would involve clan politics, and these he would delicately set aside to be forgotten—he could not intervene in clan affairs, no matter how much he might wish to.

Then, there were children like Hanako.

The child had settled into life in Konoha very well, and Hiruzen had noticed a marked difference in Kakashi's behavior. Gone were many of his self-destructive tendencies, and he was taking fewer and shorter missions, spending more time in the village. Hiruzen hadn't seen her, himself, since officiating her adoption into the Hatake clan, but others, particularly her senseis in the academy, had expressed amazement at her intellectual prowess. She was far from the only genius in the village, however, so he'd payed little attention to such things beyond ascertaining that she was well.

Perhaps, if he'd paid more attention, her essay would not have rattled him so badly.

Nearly three times as long as those written by her classmates, Hanako Hatake's essay tore into the heart of village politics, questioning the entire system from the bottom up and then back down. Her words were cutting, her criticisms valid, and, worst of all, her perspective foreign. If Danzo got his hands on this essay, there'd be nothing Hiruzen could do to keep him from ejecting the child from the village. At the very least, she offered up solutions to the problems she identified, and even put effort into tracing the roots of each issue, doing her best to absolve living persons of any guilt beyond complicity.

Hiruzen sighed, lighting his pipe with a minor jutsu. He couldn't pick Hanako's essay as the winner of the contest no matter how much she deserved it, because then the essay would be available to the public and Hanako would be exposed to the wrath of the council and clans.

What to do, what to do?

He looked up as the door to his office opened letting in Shikaku Nara, his Jounin Commander. At the sight of him, an idea began blooming in Hiruzen's mind.

"Ah, Nara-kun," he beckoned the younger man closer. "Come, read this."

"Hm? Are these the essays from the academy?" Hiruzen watched as Shikaku read the essay, taking great pleasure as his eyebrows climbed slowly up his forehead. "Who wrote this? Hiko Hatake? Kakashi has a kid?"

Hiruzen chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "Yes, he does. She's a precocious little thing, only seven years old and already completely disillusioned with our society. Her name is pronounced _Hanako_, by the way."

Shikaku let out an explosive sigh. "Seven, huh? Can't say I'm surprised, if she's Kakashi's. How troublesome."

Hiruzen nodded sadly. "Indeed. I confess, I'm not sure what to do with her. She couldn't even read three months before joining the academy, you know. Two years later and this is what she's writing. I worry she will surpass her senseis before she graduates."

Shikaku whistled lowly as he returned the essay. "Wow, all that, huh? Sounds like she could do with an apprenticeship."

Hiruzen smiled around his pipe. "I thought so, as well. Do you have any suggestions?"

The younger man gave a slouching shrug. "I dunno. Kakashi might be the best choice, as her father and all, but he's more of a doer than a thinker. It depends on her other skills, too, though…"

He trailed off as Hiruzen reached into a drawer and pulled out the girl's academy file. He accepted it with a snort, shifting his weight as he flipped through it.

"Her taijutsu needs work," he said idly. "The academy might not be a bad place for her if she focuses on her shortcomings. Sure, it'll be intellectually stifling, but the Nara have gone through that, ourselves."

True, but not what he'd been hoping for.

"Hanako Hatake has a kekkei genkai," he said carefully. "One unique to the village and which her father cannot teach her to manage. It should be listed there, in her file."

Shikaku flipped to the page and his eyebrows rose again. "A seal? Well, short of calling back JIraiya-sama, I'm not sure _anyone_ can help her with that."

Indeed. That was an issue. The other nations really hadn't been thinking straight when they banded together against Uzushio. Now, the whole world suffered for their loss.

"Still, do you know any jounin willing to take an apprentice? I'd like to keep our options open, for now."

Shikaku rolled his neck, sighing. "Well, if you want someone who can both keep up with her mentally and help her improve everything else, then there's only-." He leveled a glare on his Kage. "You could have just asked, you know."

Hiruzen hid a smile behind an exhale of smoke. "Would you have been as amenable if you hadn't reached this conclusion yourself?"

"How troublesome. At least let me meet the kid, first."

"Gladly."

* * *

Shikaku Nara never should have met her.

The kid was small, too small, with wild, curly brown hair and big, black eyes that saw more than they should. There was a weight to her gaze, a gravitas that even shinobi his age sometimes lacked. It was…disturbing to say the least. His son was smart, but he still looked at the world with a child's eyes. That innocence was reflected in how he spoke, how he wrote, and his interests.

This kid had none of that.

Seriously, it was like talking to a tiny adult.

She sat beside her father, watching the shogi board with genuine interest as Kakashi lazily moved a piece.

"So," the masked man said. "Is there a reason you invited us over, Shikaku?"

Shikaku chuckeld wryly. "What? Can't a man just want to play shogi?"

Both Hatakes raised an eyebrow at that, and he felt his smile widen.

"Tell, me, Hanako-chan," he began, countering her father's attack easily. "How are you liking the academy, so far?"

She cocked her head to one side in that dog like way that Hatakes and Inuzukas had. "It's fine, why?"

"Just fine, huh? What do you think about graduating early?"

Kakashi looked down at his daughter and she rolled her eyes at him. They must have had a similar conversation, then.

"I think it would prove detrimental to my social development."

What.

That was not a child's answer. A child, even his own, would have said something like 'I don't want to leave my friends' or 'it'll be lonely', not…that.

"Mah, Hana-chan," her father said with a laugh. "I turned out alright."

The blank stare she leveled on him only made him laugh harder.

"The Hokage has expressed an interest in assigning you to an apprenticeship," Shikaku finally admitted. "You're just too far above your peers academically to warrant keeping you in the academy."

"Academically, yes," she agreed readily. "But I am also behind in many ways. I don't see how an apprenticeship would close the gap in skill."

Exactly what he'd told the Hokage. Damn.

"I agree with you," he said, closing in on Kakashi's general. "But, the point of an apprenticeship is not to pump out well rounded shinobi. It's a matter of specialization. Normally, apprenticeships are granted to chunin, or older genin, who have shown promise in one field or another through their mission work. Their potential develops in the field, revealing natural aptitudes and hidden talents that might not have been obvious in a classroom setting." He set down a piece with a satisfying clack and met the little girl's too serious gaze. "You're a little different. All of your senseis have expressed fears that you will soon surpass them, and then the only classes you'll be benefitting from are the jutsu and kunoichi courses. There is also," he added, watching her expression carefully. "The issue of self-esteem. You may not find the coursework difficult, but there are others who do, and with you setting the bar so high, many of your peers may come to resent you and themselves for their failure."

She lowered her gaze and he cursed the Hatake propensity for masks. Kakashi still managed to be expressive, but those were all emotions he _wanted_ people to see. His daughter—that was still such a weird concept, Kakashi as a _dad_—on the other hand was a blank slate, totally unreadable except for the emotions in her dark eyes.

"I think," she replied slowly. "People who find comfort in blaming others will do so regardless of whether I am there or not. If the success of others is enough to discourage them, then they are probably in the wrong line of work."

Again, that was_ not _a child's answer.

Shikaku exchanged a glance with Kakashi and the other man turned to his daughter.

"Kiddo," his voice was gentle, but firm. "Is there a reason you don't want to graduate? Your senseis offer every term, you know."

Did they? Shikaku hadn't known that. So, he had a genius child who _chose_ to remain in a class far below her level.

Interesting.

Hanako's eyes were trained on the shogi board, straight brows furrowed ever so slightly. Tentatively, she reached out and moved one of her father's pieces, preemptively countering one of Shikaku's traps. "I don't want to attract unwanted attention," she said quietly as she withdrew. "There are people watching me, and I'd really rather they didn't. Graduating early, securing an apprenticeship—these are things that will sharpen their focus. I…I don't want to leave the village."

Shikaku was confused. A rare and uncomfortable feeling that he looked to Kakashi to dispel.

The masked man sighed. "The kid's mother's from outside the village. The council isn't very happy about that."

That…explained some things, but—.

Damn it, now he was curious.

"Does it help to know that your apprenticeship would be with me?"

She looked up at him, visibly shocked. "W-what? But you're—you're the Jounin Commander!"

"So? There's no rule saying I can't take an apprentice."

Her eyes flitted back and forth and Shikaku took a sick sort of pleasure in knowing he'd surprised her.

"But…," she looked up at her father. "What would I specialize in?"

"Analysis." Three eyes locked onto his face. "More specifically, tactics and protocol. Maybe cryptology. It depends, really."

Father and daughter looked to each other, a silent conversation passing between them. Then, Hanako leaned forward, bowing deeply from the waist like a proper clan heir. Which she was, he remembered belatedly. How troublesome.

"Thank you, Nara-sama, for your offer of an apprenticeship. I graciously accept."

She came out of her bow and smiled beneath her mask, a light in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Shikaku resisted the urge to shudder.

* * *

**WHOOP! TIME SKIP IMMINENT! Thank you for your support thus far!**


	15. Youth

**Alrighty! The results of the poll are:**

**Team 7: 15 votes**

**Team Guy: 6 votes**

**Independent: 15 votes**

**Team 7 crushed the poll, but Independent received the most write in votes in the reviews, so they're tied! I took a little longer than planned trying to figure out how I'd do that, but I've got it now. Also, since I was one of the ones who voted for Guy, I figured I'd write a mission with them, first. **

**You know, I really like how this story is developing. It feels like a big, collaborative 'choose your own adventure' story. The choices you guys make force me to rethink my story, and that makes my plot stronger, I think. I like the sense of community the polls give us, too. What do you think? Should I keep using them?**

* * *

Might Guy looked down at his adorable young genin, pride swelling in his chest. The boys were total opposites in personality and skill set; one was brash, the other cool headed; one could not mold chakra, the other was, well, a Hyuuga. As a result, they often butt heads over even the simplest of things. However, Guy could see the influence they had on each other and, though it was still small, the difference it made.

Tenten, the kunoichi on his team, was a good balance between them, but she was currently on medical leave for a torn tendon in her wrist and would not be cleared for missions for another couple weeks. Poor girl, and with the chunin exams right around the corner, too.

Ah, well, he'd just have to push her extra hard to build up her strength! She had the power of Youth™!

"Sensei," Lee asked, a hand raised firmly above his head as he gazed imploringly up at Guy. "Are we really taking a mission without Tenten-san? Will she not be disappointed to have missed it?"

Guy nodded. "Indeed, Lee-kun, but it cannot be helped. The Hokage has requested our assistance, and we cannot disappoint him!"

"Yosh!"

Neji was silent, as usual, his pale eyes set on the road ahead. Normally, Tenten would have engaged him in conversation, and Guy felt her absence keenly. The young Hyuuga was entirely too withdrawn, even for one of his clan. It was troubling, especially because, as far as he could tell, the boy had no friends outside of his team.

The three of them stepped into the Hokage's office, joining two other people.

"Hanako-san!" Lee exclaimed, wrapping the smaller genin in a happy embrace. "It has been too long since I last saw you!"

His rival's daughter smiled beneath her mask, dark eyes filled with visible mirth. It had been some time since Guy had seen the girl, and he was glad to know she was well. Her dark brown curls were cut short, just brushing her shoulders, and her freckles had faded a bit as she aged and spent less time outdoors. She was still short, though. Too short, in his mind, and he would have been concerned were he not good friends with her father. It seemed she was destined to be petite.

Guy often marveled at how much she resembled Kakashi despite being adopted—_that_ had been an interesting conversation—and he was humble enough to admit the familiar twinkle in her eyes was a bit disquieting.

"Lee-kun, hello! And Neji-san, how are you?"

Guy looked to his quiet genin in surprise as he nodded in greeting. "Hatake, you have been well, I hope?"

Her eyes smiled brightly. "Of course! It's nice to see you both. And you, Uncle Guy."

He smiled down at her and placed a hand on her head, ruffling her curls gently. "Hello, dear Hanako! I am glad to see you! Are you also here for a mission?"

Her straight brows rose in surprise, black eyes landing on the Hokage. "So, I'm going with Team Guy?"

The old man nodded with a smile. "Yes. They are down a kunoichi, for the moment, and it will be easier for you to accomplish your mission if you are believed to be one of three, rather than a standalone force."

She nodded, bowing slightly. "As you say, Hokage-sama."

The girl's sensei, the jounin commander, Shikaku Nara, let out a lengthy sigh. "Well, I guess this is where I leave. Good luck, tiny."

She waved him off with a good natured scowl that gave Guy flachbacks to a young Kakashi. "Yeah, yeah, don't waste away while I'm gone, you old coot."

With the Nara gone, the Hokage focused on Guy and his genin. "Thank you for your patience. As I'm sure you've gathered, you will be joining young Hatake-kun as she completes her own mission. Yours is a C-Ranked escort mission. You will be accompanying a young noble and her entourage to our border with the Land of Wind. Once there, you will meet a group of Sand ninja. Your clients will continue their journey without you, and you will escort a team of Sand genin back to the village for the chunin exams. Any questions?"

Guy accepted a scroll with the mission details as Lee raised a hand high above his head.

"Yes, Lee-kun?"

"May we know what Hanako-san's mission is? If only so we may keep from interfering?"

The girl in question cocked an eyebrow at the Hokage, who leaned back in his seat and took a puff of his pipe before nodding.

"I'm protecting the noble from a threat within her entourage. They aren't aware that we know about them, so I'm planning on hiding within the three man team structure. I will stay with the noblewoman as both bodyguard and entertainer while the three of you perform more traditional guard duties. It is our hope that my youth will encourage the threat to underestimate me and reveal themselves while the lady and I are alone, allowing me to apprehend them."

Guy nodded. "I see. Will you need anything from us, my dear Hanako?"

She shook her head with a smile. "Hopefully, no. Just be yourself!"

He gave her a thumbs up. "Yosh! You can count on us!"

She laughed behind her mask, raising a hand to cover her mouth despite it. "Un! I look forward to working with you!"

Guy watched as she fell into step with the boys, linking arms with Neji as if he wasn't more standoffish than her father at that age. He even let her! How astounding. It occurred to him that he'd never seen the young Hyuuga and Hatake together before then. Perhaps this was why they existed in separate spheres in his mind and he'd so wrongly assumed that Neju had no friends beside Tenten and, to a lesser extent, Lee.

Hmm, he'd have to pay more attention, then. And maybe change his bet in the genin shipping pool, if the soft look on Neji's face was any indication.

Ah, the power of Youth™!

Three pairs of eyes let him know he'd said that out loud.

Oops. At least Lee was enthused. Neji's exasperation was tempered easily by Hanako's amusement, and she led the boys down the road toward the village gate. They had a little while before they had to leave, of course, and the boys would likely need time to gather their things. He doubted Hanako realized that, however. If her father's stories were anything to go by, she carried everything she needed within her seal, her own body functioning like a storage scroll.

To be able to get up and go whenever she was needed, no preparation necessary—

How Youthful™!

Ah, it looked like he'd said it out loud again.

Too bad! Youth™ cannot be contained!


	16. Nonsense

**The semester has officially started. I may have to start updating every two weeks, rather than weekly as I have been.**

* * *

Neji Hyuuga let out a soft sigh, actively unfurrowing his brows as he turned to meet the client's gaze. The noblewoman was young, with the beauty one might expect from a conscientious civilian, with smooth, blemish free pale skin, slender limbs and hands, and long hair. He couldn't see the appeal, particularly given the nasal affectation she used when complaining—which she did often, for everything—but Lee had flushed bright red during their introduction. She was currently pouting, her artificially long lashes fluttering at him in the firelight.

"Hyuuga-kun, were you listening?"

"No."

Hatake laughed, though whether it was at his response or at their client's expression he wasn't sure. She was sitting beside the older girl on a spread blanket, her fingers plucking idly at koto strings and filling the night with gentle music. She had spent much of the day in the carriage with their client, engaging in empty conversation with a vapid smile on her face.

Well, in her eyes.

She still wore her mask, just like her father, and Neji would be hard pressed to describe her face from the handful of times he'd seen it over the years. Beyond a wide smile and dimples, nothing else really stuck out in his mind. If anything, picturing her without the mask felt rude, almost vulgar.

"Don't mind him, Watanabe-san. Neji-san takes his missions very seriously."

"Hmph."

One of the hand maidens paused in their work and glowered. "You address our oujou-sama too casually, shinobi-_san_."

Neji scoffed. While civilians were generally out of the loop when it came to shinobi politics, those who lived in the village at least knew a clan name when they heard one. These fools from the capital were nigh unbearable in their arrogance.

"Hanako-san is also an oujou-sama!" Lee cried, thumping his chest with too much enthusiasm from the other side of camp. "She is the next head of the Hatake clan!"

As annoying as his teammate could be—and often was—Neji did enjoy the look of frightened shame which overcame the outspoken servant's face.

"Mah, Lee-kun," Hatake admonished, her tone and expression striking in their resemblance to her father. There was a smile in her voice, though, and Neji knew she would have laughed had they been alone. "It's alright, they didn't know."

"Eh?" The Watanabe princess turned wide eyes on the kunoichi. "Why would an heir be sent out on a mission like this?"

Neji clicked his tongue and turned away from the civilians, ignoring Hatake's patient explanation of shinobi life. There was a reason clan shinobi didn't really mingle with their civilian born counterparts. Their worlds were simply too different.

He sighed again. This mission was already so tedious.

Activating his Byakugan, Neji scanned the shadows surrounding their camp, gaze passing over the chakra signatures of small animals in the brush. Nothing out of the ordinary. Not that there would be. Perhaps, it would have been better if Hatake had kept her mission to herself. Knowing that there was someone in their group to guard against, but not knowing who…

It was vexing. A lingering thought in the back of his mind that he could not dismiss. Every maid and servant garnered his suspicion, and he'd used his Byakugan to analyze each of their chakra systems to no avail.

Lee, it seemed, had no trouble putting her revelation out of mind, behaving just as he always had with painful exuberance. Guy-sensei, as well. It was a bit unsettling, actually, watching them while knowing they were keeping a secret. It seemed they were better at stealth than he'd given them credit for.

Of course, they _were_ shinobi.

A gentle tug on his sleeve had him turning, and he turned to take in Hatake's chakra system. It was much stronger than it had once been, but still not as strong as many of their peers'. He knew she was not a fighter, by nature or by practice, and her chakra reflected this. After her sudden graduation from the academy some five years prior, his somewhat-friend had buried herself in fuinjutsu, the art of seals. It made sense, given her kekkei genkai, and it allowed her to indulge her naïve pacifism. It also meant she spent a great deal of time in the library, poring over scrolls, rather than on a training field.

As a result, she was slender and pale in a way most shinobi were not. She did follow a training regimen designed by Guy-sensei, however, so there was no doubt that she was strong. Just not visibly so. Her conservative manner of dress contributed to this. Her pants were standard black shinobi issue, her legs wrapped in white bandages from the knee down and shoved into high topped, closed toe boots. Her mask was actually part of her shirt, the black fabric flowing seamlessly from the bridge of her nose downward, covering every inch of skin save her upper face and hands. As if this wasn't enough, she also wore a pale green haori over top. It had quickly become her signature accessory, and Neji could vaguely recall her wearing something similar during her academy days.

All of this, save her shoes, she had made herself.

He could still remember her early days of weaving and clothing design. Oh, the messes she'd made.

He deactivated his Byakugan. "Hatake. What is it?"

She pressed a bowl into his hands with a smile, their fingers brushing softly. "I don't suppose I can convince you to join us?"

There was a twinkle in her dark eyes, and Neji gave in to the urge to smile. Just a little. "I will be taking first watch."

She nodded amicably. "Uncle Guy told me, but I though I should ask, anyway."

He bowed his head slightly. "Thank you."

Though their conversation was done, she didn't leave. Instead, she heaved a great, shoulder raisin sigh and turned her gaze up to the almost full moon.

"I hear your team is considering taking the Chunin Exams, this year." Her voice was soft but clear. "Will Tenten recover in time?"

Neji hummed noncommittally. "I am sure she will. This mission will take a couple of weeks, at least. By the time we return to the village, she should be ready."

Hatake nodded, moonlight reflecting in her black eyes. "I think I will take them, this time, too."

He felt his brows raise in surprise. "Really? I thought you might wait another year."

She shrugged and lowered her gaze with another sigh. "I considered it. I still don't think I'm entirely ready, and I don't have a team, yet, but I might give it a go."

"Your father will no doubt be glad to hear that."

She shot him a heatless glare and huffed. "Hush, you."

The Watanabe girl's nasal voice split the comfortable atmosphere, demanding Hatake's presence for some trivial thing or another.

The kunoichi rolled her eyes. "Duty calls, my friend."

He sent her off with a hum, watching her go with a carefully neutral expression. The noblewoman was looking at him again, and he would not give her the satisfaction of a reaction. Despite the distance between them, he could clearly hear her interrogation of Hatake, the words "cute" and "boyfriend" coming across perfectly.

What nonsense.

A clan heir and a branch member? Impossible. The Hatake and the Hyuuga were hardly allies, and his clan guarded its dojutsu far too jealously to allow even the most innocent of interclan romances. Even Neji's fragile friendship with the young Hatake was scrutinized closely at every turn, and things would only get worse as they got older. Only once Hatake was safely married would Neji be free to call her his friend, and that would not be for several years, yet.

Neji turned his back on the camp, leaping into the trees and alighting onto a sturdy branch. The bowl in his hands had cooled, but his hands were warm.

Nonsense.


	17. Milady

Hanako had a problem.

Over the course of her years as Hanako Hatake, very rarely had she felt the need to interfere with canon. Naruto was an exception she'd made gladly, and convincing Kakashi to take Sasuke under his reluctant wing—and, eventually, into their home—had been a no brainer. Children were children were children. There was no way she could just stand aside and watch as _children_ suffered needlessly. It was easy to dismiss her unease when she saw Sasuke's smile or heard Naruto refer to her as his friend. There was no power in this world—or her old one—that could shame her for her interference there.

However…

The Chunin Exams were an entirely different animal.

If she took them, would anything change? There were a bunch of other teams that hadn't made it in canon, so maybe hers could be one? Ugh, but to fail in the first two rounds was a little…But, if she made it to the preliminaries, would she throw everything off? Would someone from canon lose their spot? Was the random selection truly random?

And Gaara! Sabaku no Gaara—Gaara of the Sand? Which would he use?—was in the same box as Naruto and Sasuke in her mind. Part of her current mission was to escort him and his team back to the village, and she fully intended to treat him with the kindness and respect due to any thinking, feeling being.

No matter how scary he might end up being.

She sighed.

"Eh, Hatake-chan? Are you alright?"

Hanako plastered a smile on her face and turned to Watanabe Yua, their noble client. "Sorry, Watanabe-san. I was lost in my thoughts."

A conspiratorial glint entered the older girl's brown eyes. "Thinking about your boyfriend?"

Not this again. Even Momiji looked exasperated from her place in the noblewoman's lap, ears hanging low on her head. The carriage hit a bump, almost sending the little dog to the floor.

"Neji-san is not my boyfriend, Watanabe-san," she said for the umpteenth time. "We are just friends."

"Mhm, sure you are."

Sigh.

"You shinobi sure are lucky," the teenager whined, running her fingers through Momiji's fur. "It must be nice to be able to choose for yourself."

Hanako took in the girl's forlorn expression. She was travelling to the Land of Wind for what was likely an arranged marriage. Although Hanako was technically nobility herself, that particular hardship was one she knew she would never have to face—Kakashi was too kind and the Hatake too inconsequential.

Still, that didn't mean Hanako was completely free to make her own choices. She'd long ago resolved to serve the Hatake as best she could. She was the heir, after all, so the clan's well being was her responsibility. Maybe it was because she was 'foreign'—the simplest way to put it—but she just couldn't bring herself to act selfishly. She knew without being told how the Hatake had suffered, and she had made it her goal to right those wrongs.

She chose her words carefully. "You are nobility. As such, you have been afforded certain freedoms and defaulted certain others. It's the price you must pay for your authority."

Watanabe huffed. "I know that. It's why I agreed to this in the first place. My people are counting on this alliance going through, so I must make sure it does. It's just," she looked out the carriage window. "Once I do this, they won't be my people anymore, will they?"

Ah.

"I think I understand," Hanako said gently. "You are allowed to be afraid, Watanabe-san, and you're allowed to mourn your loss of agency. You're going to live somewhere strange, in the company of strangers. Have you ever met your fiancé? Do you know what kind of man he is?"

Watanabe nodded with a small smile. "We have been exchanging letters for some time, now. It was the only way I could bring myself to marry like this."

That was smart and Hanako told her so. The older girl waved away her praise.

"I am not so naïve to believe his letters are a true reflection of his character, but his words have been kind. He was married once before, you know, so I think he's had some practice dealing with a new bride."

Hanako smiled. "Well, that's good. At least he'll know what he's doing."

The noblewoman flushed and looked away, biting her lip to stop a smile from blooming on her face.

"What about you?" She asked, no doubt eager shift their focus from her. "If Hyuuga-kun isn't your type, then is there someone who is?"

Hanako sobered instantly. No, there wasn't. There couldn't be. Even were she free to love who she wished, her options were all…_children._ Blegh. The very idea was sickening.

She wasn't Orochimaru, you know.

Again, she found herself picking her words with care. "My clan is not very powerful, and we have been in disgrace these last three generations, but we are still one of the founding clans of Konoha. All of the land on which the village was built once belonged to the Hatake. Much of the forest around it still belongs to us. As such, we can stand tall beside the Hyuuga and Nara as one of the wealthiest clans in the Land of Fire. You can imagine my difficulty in finding a suitable partner."

Watanabe nodded sympathetically. "That must be hard. I imagine there are a lot of families after your wealth, but who balk at your reputation."

"I am also a female heir," Hanako lamented, actually a little glad to talk about this with someone who could understand, even if just peripherally. "Any man I marry will be joining my family, not the other way around. My only real options are clanless civilians or second sons, and, even then, there are few who would be willing to accept a woman as head of the family."

Well, she could think of one exception who fit all those criteria, but she refused to even consider him. Mentally, she was the same age as his mother, if not older. Gross.

Watanabe placed a hand on Hanako's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find someone. Shinobi seem more open to women in power."

They were. The patriarchy was still strong, though. Curses.

The carriage lurched forward, sending both girls tumbling forward as one end sank suddenly lower than the other. The horse whinnied wildly, and many voices split the air.

"Oujou-sama! Oujou-sama, are you alright?"

Momiji yipped pitiably as the older girl pushed herself up. "What happened?"

The carriage door opened, revealing a young man with a concerned expression. "The axle has broken, oujou-sama," he said as he offered her a hand. "I am sorry for the fright."

Watanabe took his hand gladly and began to complain loudly, all traces of her previous maturity gone. It was almost like looking at a completely different person, and Hanako wondered briefly why she'd put on such an act before she remembered.

It was Watanabe Yua who'd asked for personal protection from an internal threat. The teenager was well aware of her situation, and the whiny brat façade was probably her way of fending it off.

Or drawing it out.

Hmm.

Hanako stepped out of the crippled carriage without assistance, Momiji running to follow in the noblewoman's footsteps, as ordered. Although Hanako was small and unassuming, Momiji was even more so, and civilians had a tendency to overlook non-human threats.

Fools.

"Are you alright, young Hanako?"

She looked up at Might Guy. His thick brows were furrowed in concern, his normal smile replaced by a frown. There was a calculating glint in his eyes, and she knew there was another layer to his question.

"I'm fine, Uncle Guy, don't worry." I have it under control.

He nodded. "Yosh! We shall set up camp here and continue in the morning, once the carriage has been repaired. Lee-kun! Neji-kun! Let us begin!"

"Hai, Guy-sensei!"

"Hn."

Hanako took a moment to wipe nonexistent dirt from her pants, watching the civilian entourage scramble. Watanabe herself was standing to one side, idly fanning herself with one hand while holding Momiji in the other. The man who'd helped her from the carriage was loitering nearby, his gaze trained on his mistress.

Huh.

Hanako took her time walking over to her client, watching as the man approached her.

"—a walk? This may be our last chance to enjoy a nice day in the woods."

Oho.

"Are we going for a walk?" She asked, raising her voice by a quarter octave and exaggerating her movements. "That sounds fun! What do you think, Watanabe-san?"

The man looked annoyed for a split second, then smiled at her. "Ah, shinobi-san. Are you alright?"

Oh, now you ask.

Hanako nodded emphatically, throwing out a thumbs up to make Guy proud. "Yep! Nothing to worry about!"

He relaxed marginally. "That's good to hear. Thank you for keeping our oujou-sama company."

Hanako smiled widely beneath her mask. "Oh, it's no problem! It's not everyday I get to escort a princess, you know. I'm almost sad I don't get to go the whole way with you." She cocked her head in a display of confusion. "I wonder what the Sand ninja will be like? I heard their puppets are _super_ scary."

The smile on his face froze. "A-ah, really?"

Hanako nodded enthusiastically, her curls bouncing. "Oh, yeah! Some of them can even turn people into puppets with their chakra strings! Isn't that crazy?"

The man's face paled as he laughed nervously. "Yeah, crazy."

Watanabe, on the other hand, looked skeptical. "Really? How do you know?"

"Well, my clan's had a blood feud with the Kazekage's family for three generations, now. It's in my best interest to know these things." Hanako didn't have to fake a snort of disdain. "I don't really get why, though. The people involved are all dead, now."

That Chiyo could really hold a grudge.

"Should you be here, then?" The man asked, a new fire in his eyes. "What if the Sand ninja take offence to your presence and harm our oujou-sama?"

Mah, that was a bit of a stretch.

Outwardly, she shrugged. "I didn't choose to come, nii-chan. The Hokage's the one who assigns the missions. The rest of us follow his orders."

He looked like he would argue, but Watanabe placed a hand on his arm, looking up at him with imploring brown eyes.

"Ne, Keichi-kun, I wanna go for a walk. Hatake-chan, I can go for a walk, right? Keichi-kun will be with me."

Hanako scrunched up her face, hesitating. "Well, I guess so. Just take Momiji with you, ok? And be back before dark!"

The noblewoman nodded with an enthusiasm as fake as Hanako's, looping her arm through Keichi's with an exaggerating smile.

If she was reading this right, then it seemed her mission would be coming to a close, soon. Keichi's body language was certainly suspicious, but that could be written off as any number of things. The suggestion of a walk, however, could not. Hopefully, everything could be resolved before they reached the border. If not, she would have to notify the Sand ninja of the circumstances, and they would not be as forgiving as she planned on being.

As the two civilians disappeared past the tree line, Hanako leapt up into the branches. That was one of the coolest parts of being a ninja. She was starting to suspect that the humans in this world were just way stronger than the ones in her old one. No amount of training would have enabled her old body to jump several yards into the air like she just had. It was really weird, and she still wasn't used to it.

She wasn't used to being so short, either. Sure, she was still young and might have a few growth spurts left in her, but, at eleven years old, her old body had towered over all of her peers. It wasn't until her sophomore year of high school that the boys outgrew her, and even then it wasn't by much. Bethany had been tall and willowy, almost waifish. Hanako was short and on the stockier side, putting on muscle much easier than Bethany ever had.

It was weird, thinking of herself as two people, but it was hard to conceptualize her situation, otherwise. Transmigration was a pretty common trope among Chinese light novels, and even some anime, so Hanako was at least familiar with the idea. There was just one problem. Try as she might, she couldn't pin down what had caused her sudden 'rebirth'. In most novels, transmigration was caused by the main character's untimely death—usually a murder or suicide—and anime almost invariably had something like a magic well or an alien spaceship acting as a trigger.

As far as Hanako could tell, Bethany had just fallen asleep.

It was most vexing.

Below her, Watanabe and Keichi came to a stop. Hanako kept herself downwind of them, lowering her mask to take advantage of a sensitive nose—another freaky ability apparently caused by her contract with the dogs, along with inconveniently sharp teeth. As far as she could tell, they were the only people out there, but she knew there were shinobi out there who could mask their scents. If only she were a sensor, but alas. She could barely manage her own chakra as it was.

"Yua-sama," Keichi was saying. "Won't you please reconsider? We're still in the Land of Fire, we can—."

Watanabe cut hi off, her tone harsh and laden with exasperation. "Enough, Keichi-kun. We've been over this. Without this marriage, our domain will crumble under the tax burden. You know the land can no longer support us."

This was clearly not what Keichi wanted to hear. He stepped into Watanabe's space, his expression dark. "You promised," he said fervently. "You promised we could be together."

Watanabe took a step back, her voice soft and placating. "Keichi-kun, we were children! You know I would give anything to keep that promise, but this isn't just about us. People will starve without the trade routes my marriage will secure. You know that."

Ah. So, the threat was a jilted lover.

She could have just said so.

Hanako pulled chakra in her palms, calling forth her yawara from within her seal with as little glowing as she could manage—glowing was _not_ stealthy. The wooden, dumbbell like weapons were small and unassuming, but their weight was a comfort in her hands. She tensed in anticipation as Keichi continued advancing on Watanabe. She couldn't see his face from her perch in the tree, but she could hear his voice.

"Please," he pleaded. "We can still run. The shinobi will take the blame. No one will get hurt."

Watanabe shook her head. "No! You don't understand the situation! That could start a war, Keichi-kun!"

He reached out, grabbing her wrist. "I don't care! Once upon a time, neither did you! What changed? Did you fall for that old lord?"

"Keichi-kun, stop it!"

He didn't, yanking Watanabe forward. Momiji leapt from the noblewoman's grasp, clearly surprising both civilians as she lunged for Keichi's face.

That as her cue.

Hanako jumped down from her perch, landing with a roll to maintain her momentum and situating herself in front of Watanabe.

"Stand down," she ordered Keichi sternly, raising her hands in front of her face like a boxer, yawara gripped in her fists.

Momiji stood between Keichi and the path back to camp, hackles raised and teeth bared. The civilian man looked from Hanako to her dog, bewildered expression quickly melting into amusement.

"What? Stay out of this kid, it doesn't concern you." He stepped forward confidently.

She sank into a defensive stance. "If you continue, I will have no choice but to consider you a danger to my client and deal with you accordingly. Please reconsider."

Keichi scoffed, looking over Hanako's head to Watanabe. "Yua-sama, tell this kid what's going on. I'm not a threat to you."

Watanabe was silent, placing herself more squarely behind Hanako. Keichi's face twisted in a way it hadn't before then, anger and betrayal warping his features. He hadn't seemed all that threatening, and Hanako had actually begun to wonder why Watanabe had considered him a threat. His current expression swept those doubts away. Clearly, Watanabe knew this man well enough to know he might try something and knew herself well enough to know she wouldn't be strong enough to resist. Civilian nobles preferred their women weak and delicate, after all, and Watanabe was the very model of a perfect noble princess-type.

Keichi grit his teeth so hard Hanako could hear it. "Get out of my way," he shouted as he lunged forward.

Hanako stepped up to meet him, dodging his wildly flailing fists with ease. Swiftly, she hooked a foot behind his heel and brought him down on one knee. In a single, fluid movement, she brought the rounded end of her yawara against his temple, using the combined force of her strike and his downward momentum to render him unconscious. He collapsed like a Skyrim ragdoll, crumpling under his own weight. Watanabe rushed to his side with a soft cry.

"Don't worry," Hanako assured her, absorbing her weapons back into her seal. "I just knocked him out."

"Oh, thank the gods," Watanabe whispered, wiping tears from her eyes with a shuddering breath. "I wanted to believe he wouldn't do this. I wanted to think I was wrong."

Hanako placed a comforting hand on the older girl's shoulder. "I know. I'm sorry it came to this."

"So am I." The teenager took a moment to school her expression before gracefully getting to her feet. "What will you do now, Hatake-chan?"

Hanako gestured to Momiji, the little dog trotting up and jumping onto Keichi's chest. "Momiji will reverse summon him back to Konoha. The Hokage will then hand him over to your father for punishment, as you requested."

Watanabe's shoulders slumped in relief. "That's good. I don't know what I'd do if I had to look at him after this."

Understandable.

"Well, Momiji, the rest is up to you. Tell the old man I said hi."

The dog sniffed haughtily. "Tell him yourself." Then she poofed out of existence, taking Keichi with her.

Watanabe stood stock still, her eyes wide and mouth agape. "The dog can talk?"

* * *

**Who else forgot about Momiji? Ehehehe...**

**This chapter is so long, you guys. So, so long. I might start writing longer chapters to make up for my irregular update schedule during the semester. **

**Also! I have another poll for you guys! Yay! Only, this time, you won't know what you're voting for. Mwahaha! Your choices are:**

**TenTen**

**Kabuto**

**Sakura**

**The poll will be open until Hanako & Friends make it back to Konoha, and the winner will influence the Chunin Exams arc, but I'm not telling you how! I need to keep somethings secret from you guys, after all. It's no fun if you know every plot twist before it happens, right? Nobody dies, so don't worry about that! Feel free to speculate or offer suggestions based on the names I've given you. I've already altered the entire future of this fic based on one person's review, so have at it! Tell me what you think/want! It might end up happening!**

**Also! I keep forgetting to tell you guys, but I've changed my profile pic to my sims version of aged up Hanako. Maskless, of course. I've been trying to find a way to provide a more accurate representation of her, but the sims is my best option at the moment. **

**Ok, I'm done. Ciao!**


	18. Stale Vengeance

**Not as many people voted in the poll I set up last time. Boo. I understand voting for something when you don't know what the outcome will be is a little tedious, but I wanted to preserve some of the surprise. You can't blame me for that, right? I promise, your choice will not result in a death. Some of you have guessed that the choice will influence Hanako's team for the Chunin Exams. You're right! Does that help? I really want there to still be some surprises even though I'm using your feedback to shape the story.**

* * *

The border between the nations of Wind and Fire was not as extreme as the harsh lines on their map made it seem. As easy as it was to imagine a wall of trees cutting off sharply before a vast sea of sand, that wasn't realistic. Instead, there was a patchy grassland speckled with cacti and the occasional tree. The border station was made from adobe like most Wind buildings, but it was built and furnished in the Fire style. Kankuro sat at the high table, his puppet propped up against its side, and drummed his fingers on the wood.

"What's taking them so long?" He griped, not for the first time. His sister, Temari, shot a half-hearted glare his way, but didn't say anything.

She was getting tired of waiting, too.

The Leaf ninja were scheduled to arrive at the border station the day before, and it was already nearing mid-morning. Lord Sankaku, a civilian noble, had begun pacing the floor beside the main door, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. The Leaf ninja were supposed to be escorting his young new wife, if Kankuro remembered correctly, so his anxiety was well founded, if a little annoying.

Still, it was only one day. Things could happen while traveling. The weather could change, wheels could break, things like that.

At least, that's what Baki was saying to Sankaku.

Kankuro was just about to start a round of insults with Temari when the door opened, revealing—

Oh, gods. What was he _wearing_?

Torn between the urges to laugh and vomit, Kankuro shared a glance with Temari. Good, she felt the same way.

"Greetings!" The green clad ninja said with a wide smile. "I apologize for our tardiness; we had some trouble with the carriage."

Sankaku seemed at once relieved and repulsed, but his voice was even when he asked after his wife.

"Ah! Young Watanabe-hime! Have no fear, she is perfectly well. Young Hanako has stayed vigilantly by her side for the whole of our journey!" Kankuro looked past the green monstrosity to the doorway and—

Oh, gods, there were _two of them_!

He watched, transfixed, as a shrunken version of the Leaf jounin stepped into the border station, thick eyebrows scrunched as he spoke to someone else. Kankuro eagerly looked to the strange genin's companion, grateful for the chance to rest his eyes. The other kid was a Hyuuga—or, what he assumed was a Hyuuga—with pale, pupiless eyes taking in the building interior with a deadpan expression. They were pretty, and Kankuro struggled to figure out their gender for a solid minute before they met his gaze and held it.

"What do you want?"

Ah, a dude, then. Lame.

Kankuro let a crooked smirk stretch across his face. "Nothing. Just never seen one of you in person, is all."

The Hyuuga bristled, upper lip curling, but didn't reply. His teammate had drawn him into an impassioned, if one sided, discussion about…something. It was hard to tell beyond the wild gesticulations and changes in tone. They vacated the doorway as even more people entered behind them.

Sankaku's anxious expression melted into relief as a young woman stepped into the room, long hair and a many layered kimono marking her as the lord's new bride. She was cute, with a pretty flush on her face as she looked up at her new husband, and Kankuro took the opportunity to look her over. It wasn't everyday he got to see a foreign noblewoman, after all. They dressed so differently from the women of Wind country, showing way more skin and—

Limpid black eyes bored back into his, irises so dark it was like they absorbed the light around them. The genin team's kunoichi wore the most unimpressed expression he had ever seen—Temari's included—over a dark mask which covered her face from the bridge of her nose down. He leered back instinctively, his smile growing as she made a show of looking him up and down. Her straight eyebrows quirked up as she scoffed, dismissing him in one fell swoop.

Temari's quiet chuckle echoed in his ears.

"Watanabe-san," the Leaf girl was saying, her voice low and on the hoarser side. "Thank you for allowing us to accompany you. It has been a pleasure." She bowed slightly, her brown curls bouncing slightly with the motion.

The princess' expression darkened. "Ah, Hatake-chan!" She wrapped her arms around the smaller girl with a dramatic wail. "I'm going to miss you!"

Kankuro felt his heart stop in his chest, eyes widening of their own accord.

_Hatake_?

Did she seriously say _Hatake?_

Kankuro looked the girl over with renewed interest. Weren't Hatake supposed to have silver hair? That was their whole thing, right? That's why they had titles like _White Fang._ Wait, was she Kakashi's kid? Kakashi of the Sharingan? Kakashi of the Thousand Jutsu? They hadn't been briefed on any of this. Did his father even know she was there?

She was looking at him again, brows furrowed and head cocked to one side. He shivered as a foreign chakra slid against his own, feather soft and laden with a sad curiosity. The Hatake had raiton chakra, right? This didn't tingle like lightning should, instead sliding against his chakra coils gently without pushing against his barriers, leaving a cooling sensation in its wake. As far as chakra forays went, it was actually rather polite.

Before he could analyze it too closely, the chakra withdrew and the Hatake girl looked away.

It was her, had to be.

He risked a glance at Temari just in time to see her stiffen.

"Gaara," her voice was high with ill-concealed panic. "Where have you been?"

The red headed boy was standing at the top of the stairs leading up into the living quarters of the station, pale eyes trained on the Hatake.

Oh no, had she touched him with her chakra? Kankuro felt a bead of sweat run down his back as he watched his brother descend the stairs without answering their sister. The Leaf kunoichi was meeting his stare head on, expression calm and open despite the mask. There was a weight to her gaze, a melancholy consideration that Kankuro had felt in her chakra. Had Gaara felt it, too? Was that why he was so curious? Or had he heard the name Hatake and come to see the boogey man their great aunt Chiyo had frightened them with as children?

If Gaara had ever even been a child.

The tense silence was broken by the Leaf jounin slapping Baki roughly on the shoulder in what was probably supposed to be camaraderie.

"Yosh! It looks like our genin are already getting along! Ah, how youthful!"

Getting along? Is that what he called it?

Kankuro scoffed and stood from his seat, pulling his puppet up and onto his back.

"It's about time you guys got here," he said with false cheer. "We were beginning to wonder if an escort mission was too much for you."

The Hatake—she was the center of his attention and he had a feeling she knew it—had the gall to look amused. Her teammate—the green one—began speaking, loudly.

"We were waylaid by a broken axle," he explained with too much enthusiasm, his face set in a determined frown. "And Hanako-san had to reverse summon a criminal back to the village."

Hanako, huh? Hanako Hatake. A field of flowers. How sickening.

And so utterly expected from Konoha.

Temari was standing, too, her fan on her back. "We should head out before the sun gets any higher. We've wasted enough time as it is."

The Leaf jounin and his mini-self smiled as if they weren't just insulted to their faces, leading the way out of the crowded border station with twin exuberance. The Hyuuga waited for his kunoichi teammate to say her goodbyes to the noblewoman before following her out, ghostly eyes lingering on Gaara and Kankuro as he inserted himself between her and them.

Ho. There might be some fun to be had.

Baki and _Guy_ lead them away from the hustle and bustle of civilians prepping for travel, stopping with a shared glance.

"Alright!" Guy took a wide stance and leveled a raised thumb at the assembled genin. "Let us first get our introductions out of the way! I am Might Guy, and these two are part of my team."

He gestured at the boys, who introduced themselves—well, the loud one did—as Neji Hyuuga and Rock Lee.

The Hatake bowed slightly. "I am Hanako Hatake. TenTen, this team's kunoichi, was injured and could not come, so I am acting as her substitute."

Kankuro sneered. "What a bold move, sending you to us. Isn't your Kage worried we might take our revenge?"

Temari shot him a hard glare, but Hatake's pleasant expression fell into dull exasperation.

"I didn't kill Chiyo's son."

Kankuro blanched at the blatant disrespect for his kinswoman. "What?"

She sighed and repeated herself, louder this time. "I did not kill Chiyo's son. Neither did my dad. My grandfather is dead. This blood feud is pointless."

Uh…

"Big words, from the offending party," Temari snarked, her green eyes flitting from one Leaf ninja to the other, anticipating violence.

Hatake scoffed. "What offending party? It was a war; people die. I imagine your uncle probably killed a lot of people from Konoha, too. You don't see us holding a grudge spanning three generations."

"That's enough, Kankuro," Baki interjected, placing a hand on his shoulder. "That's not why we're here."

Tch.

He looked away from Hatake's black, black eyes only to land on the Hyuuga's, the opposite extreme glaring openly at him.

Whatever. Hopefully, he'd get to fight the Hatake kid during the exams. If not, maybe after.

Yeah, definitely after.


	19. True Intentions

**I forgot to say this before, but I finally found a character creator worth its salt! My profile pic is officially anime style Hanako! If anyone is interested in the creator I used, it's called Charat Rouge. Just google that and it should be the first result!**

* * *

Gaara was…a lot of things.

Small was one. Very small. Short and slender with practically no muscle definition. Hanako had been surprised at first, but then remembered just how little effort he had to put into his fights because of his mother's sand. He was barely taller than Hanako, if at all, and the giant sand gourd on his back totally dwarfed him. How he carried it when he was so visibly weak was beyond her—maybe the sand lessened its weight for him?

He was also quiet. Eerily so. Over the last two days of travel, he hadn't spoken once. Luckily for him, his siblings were fluent in glares and glowers. This was less surprising, though she had expected him to at least complain.

Most confusing of all, Gaara was…kind of unattractive.

It pained her to admit it, but the blood red hair, pale skin, sunken eyes with no eyebrows look just really wasn't doing it for her. He was scrawny, with knobby joints and big nose. Like with Itachi all those years ago, she felt sort of gipped. Everyone had a crush on Gaara—even those who insisted they didn't—and here she was, lamenting his prepubescent ugliness. Hopefully, he would grow into his features.

Correction; he'd damned well better grow into those features.

Not for the first time, she caught herself reaching out to him with her chakra. It was a habit she'd gotten into during survival training with Shikaku. The two of them would head out into the Nara owned forests and just spend a week living off the land, exchanging no unnecessary words. It was a weird experience, at first. Her chakra control had always been subpar, and the concept of using it to communicate seemed so farfetched and noncanon that she almost dismissed it altogether. Eventually, she got the hang of reaching out with a proverbial fifth limb, though she still wasn't the best at it.

Shikaku, and Neji, sometimes, explained that using one's chakra to communicate was a risky thing for a ninja to do. There was no hiding your true intentions in a chakra foray, so most people just refrained from using them at all. For that reason, Hanako resolved to use them as often as possible. She wasn't ashamed to admit it was mostly practice for when she eventually met Gaara—or any other jinchuriki, to be honest, but mostly Gaara—but she could honestly say her relationship with her father had improved dramatically after she started. With Naruto, too, if she thought about it. Maybe it was their more bestial qualities that made them more receptive to chakra forays? It wasn't something she'd ever had the chance to test and asking Kiba had seemed rude.

Either way, she knew that making sure Gaara knew she meant him no harm was the most important step to adopting—that is, helping him! The first step to helping him!

Her chakra met his softly, the churning maelstrom of wind and earth rubbing roughly against her water. She did everything she could to keep her forays gentle and unobtrusive, never pushing or persisting once her welcome wore off. She hadn't died yet, so she was counting it a success.

Suddenly, Gaara was right beside her, jumping effortlessly from tree to tree. His chakra rolled over hers, his ever-present anger and general malaise making room for the tiniest speck of curiosity. He didn't say anything, didn't even look at her, but Hanako knew she had finally caught his attention.

Now, what to do with it.

She kept running, idly keeping track of her footing as she let his chakra barrel over hers with all the grace of rhino. Her first instinct was to put up walls and kick him out, but she had a purpose here. She knew for a fact that Gaara was fundamentally good, and she had every intention of making sure he knew it, too. Of course, she wasn't acting entirely from the goodness of her heart. Lee was her friend. One of her best friends, in fact. If she could spare him any of the pain Gaara's anger and insecurity would otherwise bring, she'd do it. Even if she had to take the blows herself.

Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

Just as Hanako was beginning to consider pushing Gaara gently out, something blasted across her senses.

It was like…was it possible to white out? Like, the opposite of black out, where a black out was a sudden nothingness and a white out was sudden too-much-ness.

Whatever it was called, it hit her. Hard. One moment she was leaping through the trees with Gaara, the next, she was rolling onto her side on the forest floor, tinnitus filling her head as she tried not to heave. As her senses returned, her mind began racing to assess the situation.

Her back hurt, but either wasn't injured or only minorly so. No one was helping her, meaning either they had also been affected by whatever hit her, or were otherwise engaged. It couldn't have been the Sand ninja, she reasoned. Their treachery was scheduled for after the Chunin Exams, not before. Was it Gaara? Had he done something by accident? Or had Shukaku done something purposefully?

No, neither of those explained why no one was helping her. At the very least, Lee would be by her side, if that was the case.

Slowly, her vision began to clear. She was still effectively deaf, the ringing still reverberating in her skull, but her gaze settled on something ahead of her.

Oh.

Gaara's sand had formed a wall between him and what was apparently an attacker, rows of kunai and shuriken quickly disappearing into it. Gaara himself was on his knees, hands pressed to the sides of his head in a clear sign of distress.

Oh no.

Hanako quickly began to crawl over to him, only to be stopped by a kunai burying itself in the sod not an inch from her hand. She looked up at their assailant, his face hidden behind mask not unlike her own, and she realized with some amusement that he must be saying something.

"I'm sorry," she said wryly. "I can't hear you."

His brows furrowed angrily, and he reached into the pouch strapped to his thigh. Hanako kept her eyes on his hands, but sent her chakra over to Gaara. There was a barrier up between them, now, a riotous force which made every effort to push her aside. This new chakra was so unlike the everturning earth and wind she had grown accustomed to over the last few days, Hanako knew immediately what it was. Getting wobbly to her feet, she pressed firmly against Shukaku, making her censure known.

Not that a millenia old tanuki really cared what an eleven-year-old thought of him, but still. The attacking ninja pulled a kunai from his pouch, a paper tag attached to the handle.

Was that what hit them? An explosion? It made sense, but also didn't. Certainly, she was no sensor, but Gaara was. For that explosion to catch them off guard like that he'd have had to….

Oh.

She'd distracted him.

Her hearing was still spotty, but it seemed like he was talking again. He gestured at Gaara with the tagged kunai.

Ah, so that was his game.

His clothing was nondescript, and he wore no hitai ate, but he stood like Baki and Temari. This was a Sand ninja attacking Gaara while in Konoha's territory. If Shukaku got loose, Konoha would feel the brunt of it. If he didn't, the Konoha took the blame for allowing danger to befall the Kasekage's son. It was a clever plan, she had to admit.

But not clever enough.

With little thought, she ran the short distance between her and Gaara, the sudden movement making her head pound. She placed herself between the writhing wall of sand and the attacking shinobi, raising her hands defensively. He laughed at her, his voice coming in loud and clear this time, but she had a plan.

It was his move.


	20. Mother Dearest

**We're getting closer to the Chunin Exams! The poll is still up, my friends, so please vote. The result will determine certain aspects of Hanako's exam experience, and not entirely in the ways some of you have been guessing! Fufufu~.**

* * *

Deep breaths.

In.

Out.

In.

**They're trying to kill us!**

Out.

**They're going to hurt us! We need to hurt them first!**

In.

Out.

Mother's anger churned beneath his skin, and Gaara clenched his teeth so hard they hurt. No! He couldn't lose control. Not here, not now. Not yet.

Cool chakra seeped into his edges of his awareness. Worry, fear, and anger whirled around his mental periphery.

**Tch. That little chit. What does she think she's doing? Oh, she's mad at **_**me**_**? Interesting. **Mother's voice crooned.** Gaara, if you don't hurry, your new friend is gonna die.**

What?

Gaara opened his eyes, but saw nothing. His sand had encased him in a protective dome. He could hear muffled voices from outside, one of them clearly the Leaf kunoichi with the gentle chakra. She was…weird. She was very short, like him, and reserved, only speaking when spoken to and then in a quiet voice which barely grated his nerves. She had surprised both him and mother by reaching out with her chakra, the soothing sensation of running water dulling the edge of their anger. Well, Gaara's anger. Mother didn't like her very much, but so long as she didn't push—and she never did—she was content to ignore the polite invasion. Gaara had done the same, at first, but had quickly become curious. Why was she doing this? Was she doing it to the others? Was she really that sad, or was that just how other people's chakra felt compared to his? Would she stop if he tried it?

The answer was no, she wouldn't, though he had only just tried reciprocating when they were attacked.

With a shaking hand, he willed the sand to part. Light trickled into the dome, and slowly the kunoichi's narrow back came into view. She was standing between him and another person, hands raised up defensively.

"—even think about hurting him." Her voice was clear and firm, with a weight to it he hadn't heard before.

Her opponent scoffed, and Gaara's blood boiled as he recognized the voice. "Stay down, brat," the Sand Anbu said. "That monster needs to be taken out."

Had his father sent forces after him? Were the Chunin Exams just a ruse meant to lower his guard?

"The only monster I see is the grown man attacking a pair of children."

Gaara watched as she widened her stance, the light of the sun glinting off of something in her hands—weapons, most likely. He couldn't see her face, but her words alone were probably enough to twist the Anbu's expression like that.

"Shut it, leaf scum! You don't know what you're talking about!" He pulled a kunai from his hip pouch, twirling it with a menacing chuckle. "I gave you a chance to run, kid, so don't blame me for this."

**He's going to kill her. Kill him first! We need his blood!**

Gaara clutched at his head, struggling to keep his eyes on the conflict in front of him. The kunoichi held her ground until the last possible moment, twirling out from under the larger man's speedy charge. She hooked a foot around his ankle as she went, disrupting his balance and sending him falling.

Right into Gaara's sand.

The man's eyes widened comically as the golden dome swarmed around him, encasing him within itself.

**Crush him! He tried to hurt us! Make him bleed!**

"Gaara-kun, wait!"

Small hands and gentle chakra took hold of him and he looked down into imploring black eyes. He hadn't noticed before, but now that she was close he could see faded freckles and a beauty mark under her left eye. Her brows were scrunched in what he might have called fear if her chakra wasn't laced with concern.

"Why?" It was all he could get out without growling in her face.

"Listen," she commanded gently. "Do you hear that?"

He listened. Heard nothing. Said so.

"Exactly! Where's everybody else? Why aren't they here, helping us? It doesn't make any sense." She leveled a glare on their attacker. "We need his information."

**Oho, what will the little leafling do, hmm? Will she make him bleed?**

She removed her hands from Gaara's arm, and for the first time he realized she had gotten past his defenses. True, there was a greater threat, but his sand wasn't normally so discriminating.

She placed her hand flat against the ground and a puff of smoke filled the air around her. When it cleared, several dogs dressed in ninja paraphernalia sat at attention.

"Sano, Tetsu" she said sternly to a Collie with a Konoha headband and bandages wrapped around its legs and a Shar Pei in a vest. "I need you to find our friends. Do not engage in combat, report back to me once your targets have been located."

"Yes, princess!" They leapt up into the trees without a sound.

"Momiji," the fancy little Papillon looked up at her summoner with what might have been determination. "I need you to go to Konoha, again. Let them know what's happened. If they send back up, go with them."

"Right away, princess!" The dog poofed from existence.

The kunoichi heaved a great sigh before turning back to Gaara, a smile in her eyes and relief in her chakra. "That should cover most of our bases. Now," she turned a stern eye on their captive. "To deal with this one."

**I hope she hurts him, makes him **_**bleed**_**.**

She stepped up to their attacker, not at all perturbed by the sand swirling around her. "Gaara-kun," she called over her shoulder. "I don't suppose you can get his mouth open? I want to be sure he doesn't have a suicide pill on him."

**Ooh! What do you know? The brat has a brain.**

Without prompting, the sand holding the man in the air began to converge around his face, slipping underneath the cloth mask. He gagged on sand, struggling feebly against its grasp. The sand retreated, bringing with it a small white sphere which it deposited into the surprised kunoichi's hands.

"Oh! Thank you." She pulled a small cloth bag from her hip pouch and placed the pill inside, drawing it closed with a flourish. "Now, then, shinobi-san, I don't think I need to tell you just how foolish all this is, right?"

She placed a hand on her chest and Gaara's eyes widened involuntarily as the black shirt beneath her haori began to glow. Then, to his horror and mother's amusement, she pushed her hand _into_ her chest, her arm disappearing up to her elbow. The anbu made a strangled noise, eyes fixed on the unnatural sight.

**Oh, my. I didn't think there were any of that kind left. How interesting!**

Gaara watched as she pulled out a leather roll, the glow fading slowly until her shirt was black once more. She kneeled in the grass, unrolling what looked like an artist's kit, with brushes and inkstones tucked neatly into pockets.

"Gaara-kun," she said softly, looking over her shoulder with kind eyes. "Before I start anything, what do _you_ want to do with him? You were his target, after all. "

**Kill him. Make him **_**bleed**_**.**

He agreed wholeheartedly, his rage bubbling to the surface again. Anyone who tried to hurt him died immediately, no questions asked. She was right, though. There was information to be gained here, the vital kind if the pervasive silence of the forest around them was any indication.

"What are you going to do?"

She cocked her head at him, looking for all the world like one of her dogs. "Hm? Oh, I plan on using some seals on him. Just to make him cooperate."

**There are bloodier ways of doing that.**

"You don't need seals for that."

She sighed. "I know what you're implying, Gaara-kun, but…please, try to understand, violence and killing are against my religion."

**Boo! Boring. What kind of religion makes such awful demands of its followers?**

"What is your religion?"

She looked up at him. "Hm, oh, it's called ninshu."

Mother was silent.

"It's an old religion," she continued as she began grinding ink, her movements slow and methodical. "One which focuses on empathy and peaceful resolution of conflict. It goes hand in hand with my nindo, so it was a simple addition to my life. There isn't a lot out there about it though, so I've been mostly doing my own thing."

She laid out a paper tag, small stones holding it in place on the grass as she began to draw the seals. He watched, transfixed, as the seal took shape. Thin, crisp lines began to fill the white paper, taking shapes he couldn't recognize.

"What will that do?"

Her hands were steady as she answered. "This one will compel him to tell the truth, and I'll make another one that will make him answer questions. Together, they'll force him to give us honest information."

"Why do we need it? We could just kill him."

She nodded with a hum and he could feel the rebuke in her chakra before she voiced it. "Yes, we could, but that doesn't mean we _should_. Actions have consequences, Gaara-kun. I know it may be hard to believe, but even men who attack children unprovoked can have people who love them, who'll miss them when they're gone. Just because he's mean to _us_, doesn't mean he isn't good to other people. They may not know what kind of person he really is, and even if they do they'll still grieve. He hurt us, but it wasn't permanent. Death is."

Mother was unusually quiet, but Gaara still scoffed.

"That's ridiculous. He knew what he was risking when he attacked me."

"Hm, maybe. That doesn't mean you have to stoop to his level." She picked up her finished seals, blowing on them lightly. "He may be willing to end a life to fulfil his own agenda, but that doesn't mean I have to be. Here, bare some of his skin, will you?"

His sand moved to comply, exposing the man's torso. She placed the seal tags on him with a satisfying whap, the paper sticking of its own accord.

"There, that should do it. Do you want to ask the first question? He's from your village, after all."

Gaara looked at her sharply. "How did you know that?"

She shrugged, running nimble fingers through her curls and sending a few leaves and twigs to the forest floor. "He stands like Temari, so I figured he was probably trained similarly." She scrunched her nose. "And he smells like sand."

Despite himself, Gaara laughed.


	21. Variables

**Tada! I'm just gonna say, writing someone smarter than be was hard. I probably failed. Oh well. Kakashi is next!**

* * *

Shikaku Nara knew a lot of things.

He knew where the herds were probably grazing.

He knew the formula to the Akimichi food pills.

He knew his son was smarter than him.

He knew Yoshino would murder him if she ever found his porn stash.

He also knew that seeing Momiji appear in the Hokage's office twice in one week was a very bad sign.

"Hokage-sama," the dog said with a bow of her head. "Princess sends urgent news."

Sarutobi smiled a little around his pipe, no doubt glad to be freed, however momentarily, from the small mountain of paperwork the dog was now sitting on. "Report."

"Hai! Princess and her team retrieved the team from Suna and began their return trip a few days ago. However, they have been attacked. I don't know why or by whom, but she sent me here to inform you, regardless."

Shikaku straightened from his slouch. "Is she ok?"

The dog turned big brown eyes on him. "Yes. She and one of the Sand genin were together when I left. They had been separated from the others, but she sent out Sano and Tetsu to investigate. They also managed to apprehend one of their attackers using one of the Sand boy's techniques."

"How far are they from here?"

"Two days' travel, maybe one if you hurry."

Shikaku turned to the Hokage, ready to ask for permission to go to his student's aid, but the older man was already nodding, waving a hand dismissively.

"Go, go," he said grimly. "Those genin are the Kazekage's own children. We would be remiss if we didn't react accordingly."

Shikaku bowed quickly and left the office at a decent clip, mind whirling. The click click click of nails on wood had him looking down at Momiji.

"Princess told me to accompany any relief forces," she said, probably reading his mind with the power inherent in all females.

He hummed, then stopped. "Can you find Kakashi? I'm pretty sure his team is still in the village. Have him meet me by the gate if you can, come alone if you can't. I'll wait for ten minutes."

"Hai!" She disappeared in a puff of smoke and he wondered idly if poofing in and out of existence ever got tiring.

He left the building through a conveniently open window and leapt across the rooftops toward the village gate. Who would attack a joint team of Konoha and Suna genin and their jounin senseis? While higher ranking ninja could probably take on one team, two posed a unique challenge. According to Momiji, Hanako was ok, but there was no word on Guy and his students. While it was highly unlikely that Guy would be brought down—by anyone—the genin were a different story. The Hokage said the Sand genin were the Kazekage's kids, but that didn't really mean anything to him. What were their abilities? How old were they? What skills did their jounin sensei have?

There were too many variables.

"Yo!"

Shikaku looked up, only just realizing that he'd made it to the gate. Kakashi was standing under it, his hand raised in greeting and his expression deceptively casual. Momiji was sitting on his shoulder, looking for all the world like she belonged there.

"Kakashi," he said, coming to stand beside the younger jounin. "I assume Momiji told you?"

"Yep! Is it just us?"

"Do we need more?"

Kakashi huffed a little laugh. "Mah, I guess we are a but overkill as it is, huh?"

Shikaku smiled grimly. "Oh, definitely."

They said little after that, launching themselves into the trees without hesitation. The silence and repetitive motions lulled his mind, and he found himself thinking again.

Who would attack Might Guy? He was a well-known figure with entries in most Bingo Books. His bounty was certainly high enough to be tempting, but there was a reason no one ever tired to collect it. Could someone be after Neji's Byakugan? Kumo had tried for it once before, and they were sending a team to the Chunin Exams this year, too. Would Kumo risk a war with both Konoha and Suna, though? A was an ass, but he wasn't stupid. Could the Kazekage's children be the targets? It would make sense if someone was trying to stir up tensions between Konoha and Suna. If anything happened to those kids, the Kazekage would be within his rights to demand compensation and the Hokage would be hard pressed to deny him. That being said, it was no secret that Suna also desired kekkei genkai of their own. They may also be trying to get their hands on the Byakugan and stir up trouble between Konoha and Kumo while they were at it.

Of course, there was another option, but he was loath to truly consider it.

After serving as Hanako's sensei for a year, Kakashi had finally deigned to tell him of her true origins. It had left him with more questions than answers, if he was being honest, but it also raised some troubling possibilities.

Someone had hunted her mother down. He'd read the autopsy report, and many of her injuries were already old when she died, made worse by continued stress and movement. Kakashi also admitted, after another year or two, that Hanako was still afraid someone would come for her.

Had they? Was this attack meant to finish what her mother's killers had started? It wouldn't be hard to figure out where she was, if someone looked. According to Kakashi, she looked almost exactly like her mother. Was that why she wore the mask? To hide from her enemies? Had it even made a difference, if they found her anyway?

There were too many variables.

For now, all he could to was postulate. He'd accomplish nothing by thinking himself into a corner. Better to wait until he had more information before latching on to any one idea.

Forcing himself from his introspection, taking ion his surroundings. The sun was low on the horizon, purple sky peeking through the canopy. The breeze was cool with the promise of night and autumn, with the hesitant beginnings of insect song rising up beneath their feet.

"Mah, you sure took your time," Kakashi drawled beside him, Momiji still perched neatly on his shoulder. The other man wore an expression Shikaku might have called amused, if his daughter's life weren't hanging in the balance. "Think up anything useful?"

Shikaku scoffed. "Nothing I can confirm."

Kakashi didn't reply, instead turning his head to listen to something Hanako's summons whispered in his ear. He nodded, then met Shikaku's eyes. "This way."

Shikaku changed direction without complaint. Two days of standard travel for genin level shinobi typically amounted to around two thousand kilometers of distance covered. For two elite jounin, that distance was easily covered in half the time, if not less.

Soon, all the variables would be laid bare and he could actually start planning.


	22. Mah, Kiddo, Stop Collecting Strays

**Here you go, guys. Sorry it took so long. One of my professors straight up said to my face that I'm a disappointment to my program-even though I'm passing all my classes?-so I've been in a slump. Things might get even slower from now on as I try to figure out where I'm going wrong, but I will keep updating! Grad school is hard. Why did I do this to myself?**

* * *

Kakashi smelled them before he saw them, the coppery sweet tang of blood slipping through his mask with ease. He and Shikaku alighted on a branch high above a clearing. Down below, his self-proclaimed rival sat beside Neji Hyuuga and what must have been a genin from Suna. They were all haggard, and Guy sported a bandage wrapped around his thigh. Two corpses lay discarded off to one side, face down in the dirt.

He made to jump down, only to be stopped by Shikaku's outstretched arm.

The older man set dark eyes on him. "Do you hear that?"

Kakashi stilled himself and listened.

Oh.

"There's a sensory seal," he muttered, only now realizing that, despite their moving mouths, he couldn't hear anything from the people below. "Only audio?"

Shikaku hummed. "It looks like it, though we may be out of range of the visual effects."

That was likely. Momiji—he'd forgotten about her—leapt down from his shoulder onto the branch beside them.

"Princess sent out Sano and Tetsu to look for them," she said softly, her voice a mix between little girl and yappy dog. "I doubt those fools would have considered masking their scents, so it's surprising that they aren't down there."

Indeed.

"Maybe they ran into trouble," he suggested. "Guy's mini-me isnt' down there, and I imagine there are other Suna nin around here somewhere."

"You might be right" Shikaku agreed. "But right now, we need to dismantle the seals." He looked expectantly at Kakashi.

He felt his eyebrows rise. "You want me to do it?"

"Don't play dumb, Hatake. Aside from your daughter, you're the most experienced fuinjutsu user in the village."

The 'right now' went unsaid.

"I don't know what you expect me to do," he groused. "I didn't even notice they were there. We would probably be better off finding my kid and having her do it."

Shikaku huffed a laugh. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Oi.

Ignoring Kakashi's carefully crafted hurt expression, Shikaku spoke directly to Momiji. "Can you take us to her?"

She cocked her head to one side. "Probably. I don't know what you plan to do once you're inside one of these seals, though. Our advantage comes from being outside them."

That was true. Hanako's proficiency with seals was a point a pride for her and Kakashi, both, but could she disable one while under its influence? That wasn't something they'd ever thought to test. If, after an entire day within one, she hadn't freed herself, then she likely couldn't.

Damn.

He shared a look with Shikaku and he knew the other man had reached the same conclusion, likely in half the time.

Kakashi sighed dramatically. "Mah, I guess I have no choice, then."

Without preamble, he began circling the clearing, looking for the seal's anchor point. Calling it a seal was a bit generous, he mused. It was in all likelihood just a genjutsu being remotely maintained by sealed chakra, freeing up the caster to come and go as they pleased. Setting something like that up would have taken some serious planning.

The poor kids walked right into an ambush.

Finally, right when he was considering uncovering his Sharingan, he saw it. The glint of metal up above him, reflecting the light of the rising sun, drew his attention. There, the hollow of a tree, sat a kunai, a paper tag tied firmly to its handle. He really did use his Sharingan then, just for a moment. The dojutsu picked out the traps he'd expected, and he deftly disarmed them before ripping the paper from the weapon.

"—every confidence that our comrades are well and on their way! Rest assured, I shall reunite you with your siblings or run all the way to Suna on my hands!"

Ah, Guy. The poor seal must have been straining to keep his volume contained.

Kakashi took a moment to bolster himself before jumping down into the clearing, landing behind Guy.

"Yo."

His long time friend jumped in surprise, falling into a comical defensive stance. His fierce expression almost immediately brightened into a wide smile.

"Kakashi, my friend! What a fortuitous surprise!" His bushy brows fell into a confused scowl. "I'm going to assume you know what happened."

Kakashi jerked his thumb over at Momiji where she and Shikaku landed beside the Suna genin—much to the poor boy's surprise. "The kiddo sent her dog ahead."

Guy's smile returned before fading. "Ah, young Hanako! I am sorry, my friend. I have been unable to find her. I shall perform 10,000 laps around the village as penance!"

Kakashi held up a hand. "Mah, Guy, don't worry about it. She can take care of herself." He looked over Guy's shoulder to the edge of the clearing where another dog was stepping into view. "She's trying to take care of you, too, it looks like."

The Collie—Sanosuke, if he remembered correctly—trotted up to them with his tongue lolling. "Yo," he said, panting. "You guys were hard to find."

Momiji sniffed derisively. "Did the sensory seal block your nose, too?"

Sano plopped down onto his belly with a gusty sigh. "Is _that_ what it was? I could only follow the trail so far before it started going in circles."

Hmm, so maybe they _had_ guarded against scent. Did that mean they—whoever _they_ were—had known his kid would be with them? Or had it been a general guard against scent based trackers in general? The Hatake were hardly the only ones in the village, after all.

"Can you take us to Tetsu?" Momiji asked. "I'll bet he's having the same problem."

Sano groaned loudly in protest.

"Uh," the Suna genin pointed to the ninken with a wide eyed expression. "Are the dogs supposed to be talking?"

Kakashi managed to contain his snort of incredulity—barely.

"Mah, does Suna not have ninken? They're everywhere in Konoha, you know."

The poor boy looked even more confused, but Kakashi didn't feel like explaining further. If he was really that curious, he could ask the dogs, themselves.

Shikaku loaded the corpses into a seal of his own, the delicate loops and swirls a familiar design. Together, the five of them followed the ninken as they lead the way to their packmate. Only fifteen minutes of travel at half genin speed had them standing beside a shameful Tetsu.

"Sorry, boss," the Shar Pei said. "I failed the Princess."

Kakashi idly pat him on the head as he turned to Neji. "There's a seal filled with chakra around here somewhere. Mind finding it for us?"

Why use his Sharingan when there was a better dojutsu for the job?

One located and dismantled seal later, and mini-Guy was reunited with his sensei. The Suna genin's teammate—sister?—and sensei—Baki—were relieved to see him, but still tense.

"This is bad," Baki said under his breath to his students, clearly ignorant of Kakashi's enhanced hearing. "Gaara's out there alone. We can't risk him killing the girl."

Ahem, what?

"Do you have something to share with the class?" Kakashi asked, a smile firmly in place. The three Suna nin didn't even hide their surprise, and Shikaku sighed beside him.

"If you know something we don't, I'd consider telling us. We're going in blind as it is, since none of you bothered to keep anyone alive for questioning." That last bit was more of a grumble than anything else, and Kakashi might have laughed at his expense if his kid's life wasn't apparently at risk.

The genin shared a look, both a little green around the gills. Baki cleared his throat.

"Ah, well, my youngest student is a little…ah, high strung. He has a tendency to…use excessive force and has been known to…jeopardize his teammates' safety."

He was obviously picking his words carefully, likely downplaying the danger his kid was facing in order to protect his student. Kakashi could understand that, to a certain degree, but it was _his_ kid being threatened here.

"Well," he said, voice artificially sweet. "We'd better go find them, then. Momiji, if you would."

Once again, they followed the dogs, the air tense and rife with potential violence. It took them longer to get there, this time, and there were two chakra loaded seals rather than one. The result was a wider range of visual dampening, and Kakashi felt his hackles rise higher for every second he couldn't see his kid. The odds of these attackers planning for her involvement were rising far beyond comfortable levels. If his hands shook while disarming the traps around the second seal, neither Guy nor Shikaku said anything.

"—and that's how you make a truth seal. You're basically just blocking off their ability to tell untruths, rather than encouraging truths on their own. It's way easier to negate than to promote, so eliminating other options is typically the best way to get what you want."

And, just like that, all his gut twisting apprehension left him in a dizzying rush. There, in another clearing, was his kid. She was kneeling in the grass, leaning over a paper tag with an ink laden brush. Beside her, a red headed boy watched as she painted, engrossed in her lecture. Off to one side, a man sat cocooned in sand, head lolling to one side.

Well, then.

He made to leap down, but was once again stopped by Shikaku. He leveled his foulest glare on the Nara clan-head, but it was ignored. Shikaku caught Baki's eye.

"If your boy is as volatile as you say, maybe you should go down first."

The Suna jounin stiffened, eyes wide and face pale. He opened his mouth to speak, but a voice from below interrupted him.

"I can hear you guys," Hanako called up to them. "You may as well come down."

Kakashi shot a smug glance at Shikaku and jumped down, moving immediately to place a hand on his kid's head. "Yo."

She smiled up at him, her happiness clear in her eyes. "Hey, daddy. What took you so long?"

"Mah, kiddo," he chuckled. "You're a long ways from the village."

"Yeah, but you could have had Momiji summon you back."

Ah.

He hadn't even thought of that.

"If we'd done that," Shikaku said with a wry smile after touching down. "We'd have been trapped within the sensory seal along with you."

She cocked her head. "Is that what it was? Do you have one with you?"

Kakashi reached into his hip pouch to pull one out for her, but Shikaku stopped him. Again.

"Now's not the time. I see you kept yours alive."

She looked over her shoulder at the captive. "Of course, we did. We interrogated him, too."

She pulled a green folder from her seal and presented it to her sensei with both hands. The jounin commander smiled as he took it.

"Ah, brat, you're a blessing."

She chuffed a short laugh. "I'm gonna quote you on that."

"Don't you dare."

She turned to the red headed boy who'd watched their interactions with placid green eyes. "Ne, Gaara-kun, this geezers are my dad and my sensei. Dad and sensei, this is Gaara-kun. He's my friend."

The boy looked at her sharply, lips parting in the smallest indication of surprise. His previously cold expression softened the slightest bit and Kakashi internally lamented.

Not another one.


	23. Resemblance

**This one's a little shorter than my norm, but I wanted to get it out to you guys. The poll I had going is officially closed, with Kabuto coming out on top. What that means will become clear in the next chapter. ;) **

**If Sakura won, I would have had her choose not to participate, and have Hanako take her place on Team 7 for the Exams.**

**If TenTen won, I would have had them fight in the preliminaries, instead of Temari v. TenTen.**

**Kabuto's outcome is still a secret, fufufun~.**

* * *

Sasuke sighed, his breath warming the mask on his face. He was leaning up against the wall outside the Hokage's office with one leg propped up beneath him and his arms crossed over his chest. Off to one side, his teammates, Naruto and Sakura, were speaking with no regard for the people around them. As usual.

"Ne, Sakura-chan," the dobe was saying. "What do you think happened? Kakashi-sensei left in such a hurry, it has to be an emergency—believe it!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura flipped her hair and scooted closer to Sasuke—as though he wouldn't notice. "It can't have been too terrible, since they called us here as soon as he came back. Don't you think, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke sighed again, leaning his head back against the wall. To be honest, he was also worried. There were few things that could motivate their sensei, and his daughter was one of them. If something had happened to Hana…

"Tch, teme, doesn't that mask get icky? Do you wash it?" Naruto's face was scrunched up and his head tilted in confusion before a wide, blindingly bright smile split his face. "Maybe I should start wearing one, too! We'd all match!"

"Oh, come on, Naruto," Sakura sniffed. "You'd just take it off all the time to eat ramen or something."

"Hehe, yeah, you're probably right."

Sasuke looked away. He'd gotten a lot of grief when he first started wearing the mask—Hana had, too, but she never seemed bothered by that sort of thing. His fellow students had harped on him much in the way Naruto just had, and his 'fan-club' had lamented the 'loss of his face'—blaming Hana for it all the while—before accepting it as a part of his 'mystique'.

Girls were strange.

They were right about one thing, though. The mask had been Hana's idea. After Kakashi-sensei—it was still weird to call him that—took him in, they'd shared a bedroom for a good six months. It only took her a week to notice he was avoiding the mirrors—it was probably less, but he hadn't noticed her noticing—and she went to her father for a mask. He'd initially refused, so afraid of seeming weak in any context, but her words cut his pride down to size.

"_I imagine the only thing worse than seeing a corpse in the mirror is seeing a murderer."_

That one phrase told him more about her than any of their conversations before or since.

The mask, coupled with a much shorter haircut, lessened the resemblance between him and _that man._ If it added to his 'mystique' or whatever, it made no difference to him.

The door to the Hokage's office opened, drawing all of Team 7's attention. Their sensei stepped out and raised a hand with a smile.

"Yo."

"Sensei, where did you go?" Sakura asked with a scowl. "You didn't even tell us you were leaving!"

"Mah, Sakura-chan," Kakashi held his hands out in front of his as if to protect himself from her anger. "It's not my fault. Hana needed my help."

He looked over his shoulder almost pleadingly at his daughter who sighed, brows scrunching in a fond display of exasperation.

"Mah, daddy. You're such a handful."

"What the heck, there are more of you?"

A lot of people spilled out into the hallway, one of them—a taller boy wearing a bodysuit and face paint—looking at Sasuke with wide eyes. The blonde girl beside him rolled her eyes and the red headed boy simply scowled. Their headbands marked them as Suna ninja, and Sasuke spent all of a moment wondering what they were doing in Konoha before he remembered.

"Oi," Naruto pointed a finger at the foreigner. "What are they doing here?"

"Dobe," Sasuke scolded. "We're hosting the Chunin Exams, this year. Hana's taking them, remember?"

The blond rubbed sheepishly at the back of his head. "Oh yeah, heheh."

Another sigh.

"Ne, Gaara-kun," Hana said with a smile in her voice. "These are my nii-chan, Sasuke, my friend Naruto, and their teammate, Sakura. Guys, this is Gaara, my new friend, and his big brother and sister."

The red head said nothing, pale eyes passing over them all in favor of lingering on Hana.

Oh, geeze.

He exchanged a meaning laden glance with his sensei. Good, they were in agreement.

"Come, we should find our accommodations," the adult with a Suna headband said. "Thank you for your assistance, Nara-san, Hatake-san."

The Suna group began walking away, with the red head—Gaara—lagging behind until Hana waved him happily away.

Kakashi placed his hands on Sasuke and Hana's heads, ruffling their hair with a chuckle. "Well, kiddos, what do you say we meet at the usual training ground in, say, half an hour? We've got a few things to talk about."

He shunshined away before they could answer.

"Great, so you mean we came all the way here for nothing?"

"Not for nothing, Sakura-chan," Naruto disagreed with a frown. "We got to see Hana-chan!"

He wrapped his arms around the smaller girl's shoulders, grinning like a fool. She smiled up at him despite the mess he was making of her hair.

"I missed you, too, Naru-nii."

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms. "Well, I'm going home. Sensei probably won't be there for a couple hours, anyway."

She was right. Even Hana shrugged in agreement.

Kakashi was not a punctual man.

"So, guys," Hana said as she looped her arms between his and Naruto's. "How's life been?"

They started walking through the halls, Naruto rambling on about anything and everything. They stepped out into the afternoon sun, and Sasuke had to shield his eyes from the light.

"Meh, same old same old," Naruto answered with a huff. "Ever since our mission to the Land of Waves, everything's been boring."

"That's a good thing, Naru-nii." Hana shook her head with a sigh. "Exciting missions mean someone's probably in danger."

Sasuke knew she was right, but he couldn't help agreeing with Naruto—not that he'd ever say so. He'd improved more on one exciting mission than a dozen boring ones.

"Mah, you two," she said, clearly reading Sasuke's mind. "One day, you'll be grateful for the boring missions."

He met Naruto's gaze over her head.

Yeah, no.

"Ne, Hana-chan," Naruto said, not so smoothly changing the subject. "Are you really taking the Chunin Exams this year?"

"Un," she agreed. "I think it's about time I gave it a go."

Sasuke nodded. "You need a team for that, right?"

"Yeah. I don't know who I'll take it with, yet. I'll have to decide, soon, though, so we can train together before the Exams start."

Naruto's face scrunched up in the way it did when he was thinking really hard. "Do you have any ideas who you'll pick?"

"Nope!" She popped the p and slipped her arms out of theirs, running up ahead of them to kick at a loose stone. "And I don't want to think about that, right now. Come on, we're gonna be late."

Sasuke felt his eyebrow quirk and she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Come on, we can spar while we wait for daddy to show up. I have an idea I want to test with my seal and your fire ball."

That sounded interesting.

"Ne, Hana-chan, what about me?"

She put on an obvious show of thinking it over, tilting her head this way and that. "Well, I am a little curious about what'll happen to a shadow clone if I swallow it. What do you think?"

Sasuke smiled beneath his mask, watching his friends as they walked along the path ahead of him. Hana looked over her shoulder at him and extended her hand.

"Come on, silly. Let's go set things on fire."

Yeah, it would definitely be interesting.


	24. Suspicions

**Alrighty. So, my university has officially shifted to a fully online course load because of the Corona virus-there have been a few cases in my county, so we're preparing for a bloom-so I can officially dedicate more time to writing whatever I want. Even better, I never have to see that awful professor again! *:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:***

* * *

"Allow me to introduce your third teammate, Hanako Hatake."

Kabuto smiled at the girl in front of him, bowing slightly.

"It's nice to meet you, Hatake-chan. I'm Kabuto Yakushi and this is my friend and teammate, Yoroi Akadou. Thanks so much for teaming up with us. I know you probably wanted to team up with people your own age."

He put on a show of bashfulness, rubbing at the back of his head with a wry grin.

Her expression—what little of it he could see—did not change, black eyes boring into his soul. Then, she bowed.

"Thank you, sempais, for taking a chance on someone as young as me. I'll do my best."

Sarutobi watched the interaction with a fond smile, puffing on his pipe as he leaned back in his chair. "I don't normally interfere with teams for the Exams, but Hanako-chan's circumstances are a bit unique. Thank you for being so flexible."

Unique was one way of putting it. Kabuto had very little trouble finding information on the girl—most of it was public knowledge, after all—and he had a pretty good grasp of her life thus far. After her—top secret—adoption, she'd proven herself worthy of the Hatake legacy, graduating at seven and jumping right into an apprenticeship with the most feared strategist in the Five Great Nations. That, coupled with an ever growing mastery of fuinjutsu fueled by the Second Hokage's notes and her own kekkei genkai, made her a threat to a lot of people.

And a fixation.

Kabuto smiled again. "It's no trouble, Hokage-sama. Lot's of genin switch up their teams. Besides, I'm pretty sure we're the lucky ones, here."

The old man chuckled. "I won't keep you. Go on and get acquainted. There's not much time left before the Exams."

The three of them bowed in sync to the leader of the village. Standing together in the hallway, Kabuto took the lead.

"So," he began. "It looks like I'm the odd one out." He mimed placing a mask on his face. "Should I get one, too? For team unity?"

Yoroi didn't respond, his sunglasses working with his mask to hide all expression. Hanako was little better, looking up at him with irreflective eyes, expression somehow just as blank as Yoroi's.

"Mah, I don't know," she said, her voice lilting with a surprising amount of humor. "This way, people know you're team leader."

Kabuto put on his bashful act again. "Oh, you think so?"

Her eyes softened fractionally. "Un."

They were outside, now, and the sun was setting behind Hokage Mountain. The village was full to bursting with foreign shinobi, and Kabuto had to keep his hackles from rising.

"What do you two say we go get something to eat? We can discuss our specialties and plan a training schedule."

Hanako nodded. "That sounds smart."

Yoroi chuckled. "Don't say that. He has a big enough head as it is."

Thus began a bout of carefully crafted banter, the two older shinobi building up the characters they had designed for themselves. Well, Kabuto had designed. Yoroi was just like that.

He watched the younger genin from the corner of his eyes, and he knew Yoroi was, too. She fit Orochimaru's description exactly—short, brown hair, those black, black eyes—and he wondered just what his master had in store for her. Her kekkei genkei was not like the Uchiha's Sharingan, which could easily be removed and implanted at will. Kabuto had never even seen the seal in action, so could not form an accurate image in his mind. Perhaps that was part of the draw. Unanswered questions were Orochimaru's drug of choice, after all. Having a new and interesting mystery to solve might keep him busy for the next decade, at least.

"Is barbeque alright?" He asked, rubbing his neck in false embarrassment for nth time that day. "They have plenty of options, there."

Hanako nodded and Yoroi voiced his agreement. Loudly.

The three of them stepped into Yakiniku Q and Kabuto asked the hostess for a table for three.

"Hana-chan! What brings you here?"

Just as suspected, Asuma Sarutobi's genin team were seated in their regular booth, right by the entrance. This was a prime opportunity to observe how the Hatake heir interacted with people she was on friendly terms with.

"Oh, Ino-chan. Hello. Hey, guys, Asuma-sensei."

The Nara boy raised a hand in a lazy wave and the Akimichi simply nodded before digging back into his meal. The Yamanaka got up out of her seat and wrapped an arm around the smaller girl.

"Don't you 'Ino-chan', me. Who are these guys, huh? You hitting up the older boys while your dad can't see?"

Ahem.

Kabuto turned his genuine surprise into yet another display of embarrassment while Yoroi guffawed outright. Before he could say anything, Hanako huffed loudly through her mask.

"Ino-chan. I'm eleven. I'm pretty sure that would be illegal." The blonde pouted as Hanako turned abysmally dark eyes onto the men behind her. "These are my teammates for the Chunin Exams, Kabuto Yakushi and Yoroi Akadou. We're having a team meeting."

The Hokage's son perked up a bit at that. "Oh? What a coincidence. I signed these brats up this morning."

"This isn't fair," Ino whined. "How come Hana-chan gets older teammates?"

"It's not like we'd stand a chance even if she didn't," the Nara boy said with a long, drawn out sigh. "She'd cream us all on her own."

Interesting.

Shikaku Nara was the current head of the Nara clan and, as his student, Hanako would have spent a great deal of time among his people. It wouldn't be remiss to say they had fostered her, though that practice had long fallen out of favor among the shinobi clans of Konoha. If this boy—clearly the clan heir—spoke so highly of her, it was probably true. The Nara didn't mince words.

"Whatever. You have to say that because she's your girlfriend. Anything that comes out of your mouth is biased."

Or not.

Both the Nara and Hanako wore identical put upon expressions. "We're not dating, Ino-chan."

"Uh-uh, sure you're not."

"Mah, I hate to cut this short, but I think our table is ready."

It was. Lucky them.

Hanako bowed her head once they were seated. "I'm sorry about my friends. They can be a little much, sometimes."

Kabuto raised his hands placatingly. "Don't worry about it, Hatake-chan. My friends can be like that, too."

Yoroi snorted into his drink.

Hanako smiled beneath her mask, the expression softening the intensity of her gaze, though not by much. "Thank you for understanding."

"What kind of meat do you want, Hatake-chan? It's on me, this time."

The implied next time established a foot hold for further contact.

"Oh, just tofu, for me. I'm a vegetarian."

Ho. That was unexpected. The Hatake were one of two dog clans in the village, and the Inuzuka often bore more resemblance to their ninken than their fellow shinobi. Although Kabuto had never interacted directly with Kakashi, he had assumed there might be some similarities if only because of the history of intermarriage between the two clans.

Perhaps this was a remnant of her life before the village? Little was known about her before the Hokage all but forced her onto Kakashi, and nothing she said could be verified.

"Oh, really?" He said with a polite smile. "Can I ask why?"

"Mah, there's not really any special reason," she replied, looking down and away in what could only be a deliberate show of discomfort. "I just think that, when I have the option, I shouldn't choose to end a life." Her eyes widened in theatrical realization. "Ah, not that I care if _you_ do it. Feel free to order whatever you want."

Hmm.

If he hadn't been vigorously trained—first by Danzo in Root, then by Orochimaru—he might have been fooled by her animated display. But he could tell she was faking it, even with the mask.

Those eyes never changed.

"Well, that's good to know," he said kindly. "And it's a nice worldview to have."

And a surprisingly naïve one. Her little speech on extending hands before raising them was recorded in her file, of course, but to think it went so far.

Less surprising was how quickly she'd realized he was assessing her.

Yoroi, having lost patience with their conversation, hailed the waitress and rattled off an order.

"Tell us, Hatake-chan," Kabuto said once their food arrived. "What are your specialties?"

He already knew, of course, but knowing what she thought they were would be useful.

"Mah, well, I'm pretty good at fuinjutsu," an understatement. "My taijutsu is focused on taking people down as quickly and as cleanly as possible, though I don't typically use sharp weapons." Yes, that was on file. "Um, I have a summoning contract with ninken and have heightened senses because of that, so, even without my dogs, I can track pretty well." Ah, so she did have canine characteristics. Interesting. "I also have a seal…on my body. As far as I can tell, it functions like any other storage seal, but it can't be stolen."

Ah, the seal. One of the main reasons he was even taking the Exams.

"That sounds useful," Yoroi said, taking the initiative for the first time. "I'm pretty proficient in suiton techniques and I can cast a few reliable genjutsu. I'm also partially resistant to chakra based attacks."

Hn, a good downplay of his actual abilities.

"I specialize more in information gathering, I'm afraid," though he had a feeling she knew that. "I do have some training in iryo ninjutsu, so, please, don't hesitate to come to me with any injuries you may sustain." A prime opportunity to get up close and personal with the seal. "And I also have a few suiton techniques under my belt."

"Mah, what a coincidence. I'm also suiton natured." She smiled—for real this time, inky eyes glowing with a light from within. "We're a water trio."

Indeed. That had _not_ been in her file.


	25. Exams, Commence!

**So. I may have, kinda sorta, commissioned some artwork of Hana? It looks so amazing you guys, I'm dying. It's on my tumblr exhausted-dog-mom. Just search my blog with the hashtag Shinobi Isekai!**

* * *

Hanako took a steadying breath as she and her—hella suspicious, seriously, were they even _trying _to be discreet—team approached the academy. She hadn't been there in a very long time, and seeing so many grown, foreign ninja in the halls was a little off putting. Her nomination slip said the sign up area was on the third floor, so she, Kabuto, and Yoroi silently began climbing the stairs. At the first landing, they encountered a massive crowd of people struggling to fit into the second floor hallway. Yoroi and Kabuto made a show of joining them. They weren't that gullible, were they?

"Um, guys?" They stopped and looked back at her with confusion. "This is the second floor."

They and several other teams around them looked startled. "Oh? But the legend says these are the three hundred number rooms."

It was true. There, on a wall, was a sign marked **300-325**.

"Yeah, but we only climbed one flight of stairs."

Kabuto put on a thinking face. "You're right! Good catch, Hatake-chan!"

Her words had set people whispering, but her name had them straight up conversing among themselves.

Great. Kabuto, you jerk.

They trudged their way up to the actual third floor, followed by a small crowd of foreign genin. Oh, well. The exam room was already pretty full, with several teams clumping together at different desks or against the walls. A flash of red hair caught her eye.

"Ah, Gaara-kun! Hello!"

The jinchuuriki turned black rimmed eyes on her, expression unchanged. "Hanako."

She walked right up to him, leaving her teammates to fend for themselves as she smiled up at the slightly taller boy. "How are you? I haven't seen you since we got back to the village."

"Fine."

She extended her chakra, pleased to see his was pretty calm. "I'm glad! Have you enjoyed your stay so far?"

"Hn." His chakra rose in answer to hers, surrounding her with a feeling of summer sun. _Hot_ summer sun, but still. At least it wasn't angry.

"Hey, Hatake," his brother began, a smirk pulling at his painted lips. "You sure you wanna take the Exam this year? You're the littlest one here."

Translation: Gaara might like you, but even he can't stop himself sometimes. Get out while you can.

She smirked right back at him. "Mah, Kankuro-san, are you worried about me?"

He looked away with a sharp click of his tongue. Temari laughed at his expense.

Gaara's face didn't change, but his agitation came through in his chakra. Hanako rushed to soothe him, sending him as genuine a smile as she could conjure.

"Oh, Hatake-chan, you know some of the Suna ninja?"

Crap. She forgot about Kabuto.

Letting her smile drop where Gaara could see, she turned to her team. "Yep. We travelled to village together after I finished a mission to the Wind border."

Kabuto smiled and bowed slightly. "Hello. My name is Kabuto Yakushi and this is Yoroi Akadou. We were lucky enough to be put on a team with Hatake-chan for the Exams."

Before any of the Sand Siblings could respond—if they even planned to—the door to the room opened again, letting in six of the Rookie Nine.

Naruto and co. really were going to be last, huh?

"Hana-chan~!" Ino called, skipping up to her and draping herself across Hanako's shoulders. "I should have known you'd beat us here."

Shikamaru promptly chose a spot by the door and sat down, Chouji plopping down beside him and opening a bag of chips. Kiba came toward her and Ino, a cocky grin on his face—his default expression.

"Yo! I guess you finally decided to give it go, huh?"

Hana smiled slightly under her mask, carefully letting a little bit of it show in her eyes. "Yeah. Figured it was about time, you know?"

Kiba's smile widened before freezing. He looked over her shoulder to Gaara, face paling as he took a step back. On his head, Akamaru whined.

Oh, right. They were afraid of Gaara. She'd forgotten about that.

Shino had no such reservations—or, if he did, he didn't show it—nodding his head in greeting. "Hatake."

"Aburame-kun," she returned, smiling for real this time. "I didn't know Kurenai-sensei had signed you up."

"She did. Why? Because, even if we fail, it will be a learning experience."

Ho. "Well, I wish you the best of luck."

"Likewise."

Hinata said nothing, but Hanako wasn't concerned. She was generally a shy girl—not just when Naruto was involved—and rarely took the initiative in conversation. They exchanged silent nods and that was that.

"Ne, ne, Hana-chan," Ino pestered, jumping up and down in her impatience. "Do you think Sasuke-kun will take the exams? He's gotta, right? Your dad will sign him up, right?"

Hana sighed, adopting a deadpan expression Shikaku swore looked exactly like Kakashi's. "Mah, Ino-chan, I don't know. He hasn't told me anything."

The older girl pouted. "No fair! What's the point of having a sensei for a dad if you never know any of his secrets?"

Oh, she knew his secrets, alright. She just hadn't learned them the normal way…

Team Guy stepped in next and Hanako braced herself for further bombardment.

"Nuhuh," Ino said, sticking her tongue out at Lee as he made to pounce. "It's my turn with Hana-chan. You had her for a whole month!"

Lee's dramatic tears inspired zero sympathy. TenTen rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Sorry you had to go in my place," she said. "I know how much of a handful these two can be."

Neji didn't deign to respond, pale eyes scanning the room.

Hanako shrugged, once again reaching for Gaara with her chakra. So many people crowding her—and, by extension, his team—had to be straining his patience.

"It was no trouble, TenTen-san. I made some new friends on the way."

Whew. Crisis averted.

Finally—_finally_—Naruto and co. came in. Ino promptly abandoned her to glomp Sasuke, immediately picking a fight with Sakura. Hanako took the opportunity to breathe.

"You have a lot of friends, Hatake-chan," Kabuto said with a patently fake smile. "They seem really fond of you."

Hanako scoffed just loud enough to be heard by her team, Gaara's, and maybe Kiba. "Nah, they just like small things."

Self deprecation was a wonderful deflection tactic. Kakashi taught her that.

Seeing the trouble brewing between Kiba and Naruto, she sighed and threw an apologetic glance at Gaara.

"Sorry," she said. "I have to go contain my idiots."

At least Temari laughed.

"Boys." They stopped their roughhousing instantly, separating with sheepish expressions. "This is neither the time nor place for such casual attitudes."

"Sorry, Hana-chan," Naruto said with a grin, rubbing at the back of his head. "It wasn't my fault this time, honest!"

Sasuke had managed to extricate himself from Ino's embrace and was now sidling up close to Hanako—likely planning to use her as a buffer for any other fangirls in the area. *cough* Sakura *cough*.

Kabuto stood uncomfortably close, smiling down at the gathered Rookies. "She's right, you know. You're the most inexperienced group here. There are a lot of people who take offence to your participation."

"So?" Ino asked brazenly, hands on her hips. "It's not like we made our senseis sign us up."

"But you are the ones who decided to act on that nomination," Kabuto replied, nonplussed. "As your sempai, I feel the need to tell your these things."

He squat down and began his card trick routine. Hanako looked away, uninterested. Yoroi also stood to one side, arms crossed. His sunglasses made it hard to know where he was looking, but Hanako had a feeling it wasn't at her.

"Oh? Hatake-chan, they're asking about you."

"Eh?" Her surprise was genuine as she turned back to the huddle of Konoha genin. "Wait, what?"

Kabuto chuckled. "Your friends are asking about your info card. Should I show them?"

Hanako shrugged. "It's your prerogative, Yakushi-sempai. You're team leader, after all."

Something shadowed his gaze, but it was gone in an instant. He turned back to the Rookies with a smile. "Alright, one Hanako Hatake, coming up."

His chakra brought up her stats on the card.

"Eh? That doesn't look right."

Naruto's words were echoed among her friends as they looked at her card.

Her stats were…less than average, to be honest. Taijutsu – passable. Ninjutsu – meh. Genjutsu? – nonexistent.

Heck, she really didn't look like much, did she?

Kabuto rubbed at the back of his head, as was his wont, and Hanako felt his embarrassment was somewhat genuine, this time.

"Sorry, my cards don't account for fuinjutsu. Most people don't use it, nowadays."

"Holy—! Look at her missions!"

Uh oh.

Sure enough, listed right there for everyone to see, was her mission record. Well, the public one, anyway.

"Hana, you've gone on A ranked missions?"

She shrugged helplessly. "Not on purpose? They just, sorta, ended up that way. Honest."

Naruto rubbed at his nose in a display of arrogance. "Heh, we know how that goes, don't we, teme?"

Sasuke met Naruto's gaze before looking away. "Hn."

Mah, these boys. At the very least she should be grateful Naruto wasn't challenging the whole room to a death match.


	26. Snake Breath

**So, instead of agonizing over how to make a written exam interesting, I skipped it! Woohoo! Just remember, y'all voted for Kabuto. ;)**

* * *

Hanako stretched her arms out above her head, popping something in her back as she and the other passing genin followed a yelling Anko Mitarashi out of the Academy.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," Kabuto said as he wiped non-existent dirt from his glasses. "Had I known, I wouldn't have tried so hard to answer every question."

Hanako hadn't tried at all. She distinctly remembered Naruto turning in a blank test and still getting through, so she just turned over her test and waited for the hour to be over. It proved a good opportunity to go over her plan for the Forest of Death.

She'd long ago familiarized herself with Training Ground 44, letting her dogs loose among the trees so they could scope it out, too. She knew how to get to the tower in its center from every gate, the nesting grounds of every dangerous beast, and, most importantly, where all the Anbu emergency tags were hidden.

The only issue was her team.

It would likely be impossible to interfere with Orochimaru's plans with his henchmen on her tail.

With a sigh, she reached into her seal, the pain of activation an old, familiar ache. She pulled out an icy cold can of tea and popped the tab.

"Huh? Where'd you get that?"

She turned to Kankuro with wide eyes, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and hiding her face with the motion. "You want one?"

He blanched as she pulled out another one, flinching comically back as she held it out to him. Temari rolled her eyes and took it.

"Thanks, Hatake." Her can opened with a hiss and she took a shallow sip. "Does that hurt?"

Hanako looked down at her chest. "Yeah, actually. I'm used to it, though."

The taller girl looked like she might say more, but Naruto's nonsense with Anko drew everyone's attention.

Some things just couldn't be changed, huh? Hanako's focus narrowed on the Kusa ninja with the tongue—eugh. Had Orochimaru already taken her face? Was that him, right there? Was there anything she could do to keep him away from Sasuke and Naruto?

"Good luck, you guys," she said to the Suna team, voice carefully casual. "See you on the other side."

She and her team walked through the crowd and past maybe-Orochimaru. Hanako kept her gaze set dead ahead, not even sparing a glance for who might be the catalyst of nearly every canon conflict from then on. She accepted her waver and approached the hut against the fence to turn it in. Once she, Kabuto, and Yoroi had officially signed their lives away, they were supplied with an Earth Scroll.

Kabuto looked down at her with a smile. "I'll leave this to you, Hatake-chan."

She took it and made a show of placing it into her thigh pouch. When both her hand and the scroll were concealed, she activated the seal on her palm and swallowed the scroll. That done, she pulled out her hand and buckled the pouch closed, meeting Kabuto's eyes with a nod.

The three of them walked up to gate 38 and Hanako had to take a deep, deep breath to steady her mounting anxiety. She'd spent the last six years planning almost exclusively for these exams, but those years had also made it clear that canon wasn't set in stone. Orochimaru wasn't a character that popped into being the moment Kishimoto introduced him. He was a living, thinking being capable of adapting to new and changing situations—like the ones Hanako's existence likely created.

The Butterfly Effect is way scarier in reality.

Hopefully—wait, no, that's awful—Orochimaru's depravity was a universal constant.

She was brought from her musings by a chunin unlocking their gate, the sound of falling chains echoing as all the other gates were opened, as well.

And they were off!

Kabuto lead the way up into the trees, leaving the fence and the ground behind. Hanako took up the spot behind him on his left, Yoroi on his right. They leapt from branch to branch, climbing higher and higher until they came to a stop in the uppermost canopy of the forest. The three of them huddled up against a wide tree trunk, squatting in a circle.

"Alright," Kabuto began, huffing and puffing with theatric fatigue. "We should be safe for a few moments, at least."

"We have five days," Yoroi added. "Many will be trying to get there first. If we hang back, we should be able to pick and choose our fights."

Hanako nodded. They were right.

"We would do well to stay up here," she said, looking down over the edge of the tree branch. "It gives us a good vantage point, and I know many of the foreign teams will be unaccustomed to traveling in tree cover. How much you wanna bet none of them even look up?"

Kabuto nodded, his smile a little more genuine and sly. "Good thinking, Hatake-chan. So, our plan as of now is to pace ourselves and stay high up. Anything else?"

Hanako hesitated before speaking. "We might want to target the rookies. They're recent graduates and might hesitate to attack fellow Konoha nin." She'd keep Sasuke out of Orochimaru's hands, even if she had to crush his trust in her to do it.

Kabuto and Yoroi gaped at her.

"Wow, Hatake-chan," Kabuto laughed. "That's really cold."

"Mah," she shrugged. "I'm on your team, not theirs."

"Yes," Kabuto's voice dripped with approval and Hanako resisted the urge to shudder under the weight of his suddenly too focused gaze. "Yes, you are."

Blegh.

She shifted her weight, falling onto one knee. "I have a plan to throw people off our trail, if you're interested." At Kabuto's nod, she pressed her palm to the wood beneath her, calling up a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, three dogs sat among them.

"These are my summons; Sano, Tetsu, and Momiji." The dogs nodded when she gestured to them. "They can henge themselves into us and lead any opponents on a false trail. They'll travel with us for at least a day, so they can get a better grasp of your personalities and how you move. They'll also adopt our scents, to throw off any trackers like Kiba Inuzuka."

Kabuto was nodding along. "They'll also be able to fight without dispelling like clones would. That's very clever!"

Well, yeah. She'd only been planning it since she first summoned Momiji.

"The princess is always clever," Sano said with a huff. "You plebs can't even hope to compare."

"Sano!" Hanako pointed a finger at the Collie. "No!"

Tetsu laughed as his packmate wilted under their master's censure. Momiji rolled her brown eyes.

"Boys."

Yoroi looked absolutely delighted. "They talk!"

"Of course, we do," Sano said with a yipping laugh. "What, did you think we were like those Inuzuka ninken?"

"Oh," Momiji scrunched her muzzle. "Don't even joke about that."

Hanako never did find out why they hated the Inuzuka dogs. Poor Akamaru always looked so put upon whenever Momiji was in the room. Wait, couldn't Tsume Inuzuka's dog talk?

"Right," Kabuto stood, one hand extended down to her. "We should find a decent campsite. Setting up a reliable system for securing a perimeter will be our focus for today."

Hanako took his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. He smiled down at her for a little longer than was comfortable before turning and leaping away.

Hanako followed, feeling infinitely safer with her dogs at her side. She let her body fall into autopilot as she ran through her mental file of plans.

With the dogs involved, her chances of getting word out if they _did_ run into Orochimaru were much higher. If her memory could be trusted, Kishimoto had the snake attacking Sasuke later that day. If he stuck to that plan, then she had three options: hurry and take out Team 7 herself; hurry and _save_ Team 7—her own team willing; or wait and hope all those years studying seals weren't for naught.

She didn't like any of those, but they were all she had.

The sudden shouts of her teammates and dogs had her looking up just in time to see the red maw of the snake's mouth as it swallowed her whole.

Rude.


	27. Roadrunner

**I Suck at action scenes, y'all. I'm so sorry.**

* * *

In hindsight, she probably should have expected this.

Really. It made perfect sense.

Why go for the Sharingan—a dojutsu he'd studied quite literally to death, thanks to Danzo—when there was a brand new, never before seen, totally noncanon kekkei genkai wandering around the Forest of Death.

Being on Kabuto's team made a lot more sense now.

Knowing all of that didn't make her situation any less gross, though.

It was absolutely nauseating. The grossest. The most gag inducingly foul. Worst of all—

It. Was. In. Her. Hair.

Agh!

She knew how to get out, of course. Who could forget the exploding snake debacle? It wasn't the snake's fault Orochimaru told it to eat her, though. Really. She didn't want to kill it.

She might have to kill it.

Folding her fingers together, she offered up a prayer for the snake's poor soul before activating her seal.

She knew how to create Shadow Clones, of course, but she didn't have nearly enough chakra to create as many as she would need to burst through the many layers of snake she needed to escape. She _did_, however, have a lot of water stored inside her seal. It was mainly for use as fuel for her suiton techniques, but none of them would help her now. Instead, she was going to let out all the water she'd stored away in the hopes of either replicating Naruto's explosion or—preferably—getting the serpent to puke her up.

Eugh, it was all so nasty.

The snake's stomach was illuminated by her seal's blue-white glow, the rising water level casting reflections on the pink walls of flesh in a bastardization of that one scene in _Tangled._ Hanako took a deep—nauseating—breath just before she was submerged and put all her focus into expelling water. Her eyes were closed, so she couldn't really see what, if any, affect her desperate act was having. Honestly, if this didn't work, she had no alternative. Wait, no, she could—

As soon as the thought came to her, she was moving. Flowing up and out of the snake's mouth with a torrent of water, Hanako found herself on her hands and knees in the mud, coughing wetly.

A squelch had her looking up, eyes wide, and she froze when she recognized the person in front of her.

It was the Kusa kunoichi—or, rather, Orochimaru wearing her face. She—he?—licked his lips with that obnoxiously long tongue, clearly doing so for effect.

"Well," he said with a rasping voice, coming closer with slow, steady footsteps. "That was unexpected."

Hanako didn't answer. Instead, she reached out with her chakra. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she couldn't help but sigh in relief when she felt no one near.

Wait, that wasn't right.

"Oh? A sensor?" No. "How interesting." No. That's wrong. How could he get that wrong?

She pulled her chakra back and pulled herself to her feet. She didn't bother with a defensive stance. Nothing she did would have any effect on a Sannin.

No _lasting_ effect, anyway.

As he approached, she let her mind run in the background as she focused on keeping her body relaxed.

When he went after Sasuke, he'd used crushing Killing Intent to paralyze him and Sakura. Killing Intent was just ninshu—the only kind most ninja still knew how to use—and she'd requested training in Konoha's Torture and Interrogation sector specifically to learn how to counter it. So that was dealt with.

He chuckled lowly. "What? Nothing to say?"

The snake was still around, but, even if it wasn't, he could always summon more. Her team would not be coming to her rescue, though her dogs might—if they hadn't unsummoned themselves to make sure they were available should she need them. No. It was better to operate on the assumption that she was alone.

His smile faded. "You know, I expected a bit more snark from Kakashi's hatchling. I'm a bit disappointed."

Good.

She leapt into the air, bouncing from tree to tree, her chakra laden hands brushing the bark as she went. Below her, she heard Orochimaru's laughter. Hopefully, he'd be too distracted to notice.

Up, up, up she went, spiraling upward toward the canopy. Orochimaru was gaining on her, but she spared him little thought. Right now, her advantage—if she could call it that—lay in her ability to detach herself from the situation. Shikaku had always praised her for it, calling it a skill beyond her years, but she knew the truth. Having lived another life, it was very easy to look at this one with foreign eyes. Like playing a video game, she acted as though her body were apart from her, activating the necessary skill with an absent eye on her mana bar—ahem, chakra levels. This technique was purely theoretical, more idea than actual ability, but it was within the realm of possibility and she was fully willing to bend the rule of this new reality to suit her.

Anchoring the bottoms of her boots to the underside of a tree branch, she met Orochimaru's smiling gaze with a glare. His Killing Intent rolled off her like a wave of hot air and she let herself smile in return. Pressing her hands together in the familiar ways, she launched herself downward, using the collected chakra in her hands to recall the myriad of threads she'd attached to the trees during her ascent. Noy tightening, the weave pattern revealed itself, a giant, glowing cocoon closing in around Orochimaru, who'd launched himself straight up while Hanako jumped in circles.

It probably wouldn't hold him long, if at all, but it was still satisfying to see an idea come to fruition like that.

As the silk threads enclosed the Sannin within their folds, Hanako once again propelled herself upward, activating her seal. Yanking the cocoon toward her, she had every intention of swallowing the snake whole.

Alas, it was not to be.

The cocoon burst open, the force of the blast throwing Hanako back. Rather than stay and see what he'd done, she borrowed the momentum and began fleeing. She really should have just done that from the beginning, but she had to try. Naruto's shadow clones always popped the instant they entered her seal—despite surviving storage scrolls—so she had no idea what awaited anyone inside. Who better to experiment on than the mad scientist himself?

Snakes sidled up to her, huge and angry. She immediately let herself drop down from the trees, using her small size to her advantage and diving through the thick foliage. Above her, the air was filled with the sound of snapping branches and hissing snakes. The exposed parts of her face and hands were riddled with stinging cuts and scratches. Her hair caught on something and she pulled free, heedless of the pain it caused but very aware of the way her headband fell free. She couldn't stop to retrieve it.

Hanako's boot caught on a raised root and she was sent tumbling forward. She raised her arms over her head as she rolled, cursing her clumsiness. If she couldn't get her footing back, it was only a matter of time before Orochimaru's snakes caught her, but it would take too much time to actually find her balance.

If only she could turn into a human wrecking ball, à la Chouji. Then she could maintain her momentum without wasting valuable time getting to her feet.

Suddenly, she found herself weightless, her body suspended in air as she rolled right off the edge of a cliff. She barely had time to register the lack of ground beneath her before gravity grabbed hold of her and pulled her down, down, down with alarming speed. She twisted in midair, desperately searching for someway to save herself from her future life as a human tortilla. She unfurled her chakra and reached out wildly. Was there anyone out there? Any_thing?_ Even being swallowed again would be preferable to ACME style flattening.

Please?


	28. Hug It Out

Her back hit the water with a breathtaking whap! The rushing water pulled her along its current, bouncing her on the riverbed like a basketball. She gasped for air reflexively only to choke on grainy water. Mind fogged by pain and shock, she could do little but go along with the violent flow as her body was rammed against stones many times her size. She flailed, desperately pumping chakra into her hands and feet as she struggled to get up above the water. If she was where she thought she was, then there were rapids downstream. She had to get out of the water before then, or she'd—.

* * *

"—_chiru! Yachiru! Moh, sweetie, you need to get up. You don't want to miss your papa, right?"_

"_Yachiru, get under the floorboards and stay there. Don't make a sound. Go, hurry!"_

"_Yachiru, mommy loves you."_

* * *

She was alive, that much was obvious.

Her head was pounding and her skin was soaked, but she was alive. The water of the river lapped lazily at her back, her legs fully submerged and her face buried in the mud. Her eyes were closed and she had no intention of opening them.

Who the hell was Yachiru?

Was…was _she_ Yachiru? Was this body _Yachiru's_?

Had she really hit her head all those years ago? If she hadn't, would she have woken up with all of _Yachiru's_ memories, too? Would she have any of her own? Injury induced amnesia usually resolved itself pretty soon after occurring, right? That's what Grey's Anatomy told her. Had…had _Yachiru_ not died? Was she still alive, somewhere, inside her mind? Had Bethany usurped her like a split personality in a horror movie?

No, no that couldn't be it. She wasn't Yachiru. She wasn't! She was—.

"Hanako."

Her eyes flew open. With a groan, she pulled deadened limbs underneath herself and painstakingly lifted her head from the mud. There, standing on the bank, was Gaara. The sunlight trickling through the break in the trees set his hair aflame like a bloody halo, hurting Hanako's sensitive eyes with its brilliance. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked up at him. She scrambled to her feet, muscles screaming in protest as she climbed the steep embankment. He stood still, watching stoically as she rushed him, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her muddy face in his narrow chest.

She cried.

It was an ugly, snot running cry, the kind she normally had while locked in her soundproofed room. Orochimaru's borrowed face hung in her mind's eye, obscene tongue raking against her brain. Her hands twisted in Gaara's black bodysuit, shaking with the force of their grip. This was the price for separating her mind from the situation. All the fear and adrenaline hit her at once.

Chakra, tentative and thin, wrapped itself around her, covering her terror with a layer of confused sympathy. A slender hand placed itself on her back with the same hesitation.

Oh, Gaara.

She loosened her grip on him, taking the time to set a smile on her face before pulling away.

"I'm sorry," she said, wiping at her eyes with muddy sleeves. "I—." Her words froze on her tongue as she looked up into his face. His pale green eyes boiled with so much anger that she marveled at his ability to keep it from his chakra. Damn, she'd really stepped in it. "I'm so sorry, Gaara. I shouldn't have—."

"Who did this?"

"Eh?"

He raised one pale hand and pressed his fingers against her temple. She winced and fingers came away bloody. Oh no. Damn it, shew knew how he was with blood. What was she thinking?

"A-ah, no one. Really! It was the river."

She gestured wildly at the river behind her, stepping back to give him a little space. His hand on her shoulder tightened its grip, halting her.

"Why are you afraid?" His voice was pitched low, and Hanako could feel Shukaku's chakra welling up beneath his own. "Who did this?"

Oh, shit.

This was an opportunity. If she told Gaara the truth, she might be able to stop the invasion in its tracks—or, at least, the biggest, scariest part of it. She wanted to tell him, to warn him of Orochimaru's depravity, but…

"Oi, Gaara, why the heck'd you run off like that?" Kankuro's voice broke the tension between Hanako and Gaara. "Seriously, you know we're supposed to stay—oh, that's why."

Hanako raised a hand weekly in greeting. "Hey."

Kankuro's false bravado became a little more real when he saw her. "Damn, what happened to you?"

"I was eaten by a snake."

The puppet master and his sister, who'd walked up beside him, stiffened.

"W-woah, really? How'd that happen?"

She sighed, letting her shoulders slump. "I don't know if I should say. It's kind of…village sensitive."

Gaara's chakra made his agitation known and she let him wrap her up in it. His anger should have been scary, given what she knew he was capable of, but knowing it was for her sake somehow made it less threatening.

"What, are they special Konoha snakes?" Kankuro's joke fell flat. Even Temari cast a look his way.

"Kind of," Hanako said wearily, rolling her shoulders to loosen muscles gone stiff with cold. "Oh, heck. I may as well tell you. If he goes after you, we might end up in another war."

"If who goes after us?"

She looked Temari straight in the eye. "Orochimaru."

There was a spike in Gaara's chakra and she felt her heart fall. So, they did know about him. Damn.

"W-wait, isn't he that Sannin guy? The one who defected?"

Hanako shook her head. "He didn't defect. We kicked him out," she paused for effect. "For experimenting on children. That's probably why he wants me," she added, privately delighting in the matching expressions of terror on Kankuro and Temari's faces. "I'm the last of my line, you know." Maybe.

Gaara's hand on her shoulder tightened painfully and she looked up at him. He was breathing heavily, eyes unnaturally wide. She could hear his teeth grinding.

"Gaara-kun?"

His gaze snapped to hers, chakra ablaze with anger. Shukaku's roiling undercurrent was quickly overpowering him.

No!

She let her own chakra surge up and out of the blanket of anger, encapsulating both boy and beast in what she hoped was a calming presence. She was still shaky with nerves.

Slowly, his grip on her loosened. His eyes refocused, and breathing calmed just enough to be noticeable.

"Gaara."

"Eh?"

"You called me Gaara, before."

Oh. She had, hadn't she. That's what she gets for not using honorifics in her mind.

"Sorry," she said with a small smile. "I shouldn't have—."

"It's fine," he interjected, looking her dead in the eye. "Call me Gaara."

Mah, he really hadn't been socialized, had he?

She let herself laugh, placing a hand on his where it still rested on her shoulder. "Alright. Gaara, then." She sighed again. "I should probably go look for my team. We can only pass if all three of are there together. Good luck you guys. I hope to see you in the next stage. Look out for snakes."

She made to leave and Gaara finally let go of her. Looking him over, she winced. She'd gotten him all covered in mud. Whoops.

Leaping into the trees, Hanako followed the river upstream. Her cry session and the conversation with Gaara had helped level her head somewhat, but there were still things she needed to do before she'd be able to say she was fine. Stopping on a wide branch hanging over the rapids, she pressed her palm to the rough bark. When the smoke cleared, two brown, roly-poly-esque figures sat in front of her, their pudgy tails wagging eagerly.

"Princess," one of the puppies whined, standing up on his hind legs and propping himself up on her leg. "You finally summoned us!"

His brother yawned loudly.

She smiled down at the newest additions to her pack. The mastiff pups were still to young to be out in the field, but she didn't want to risk alerting Kabuto. Besides, this could be a learning experience.

"Ok, whelps," she said, clapping her hands with a sinister smile. "How do you feel about tracking down your uncle Sano?"

The pups shared evil smirks of their own.

Poor Sanosuke.


	29. Female Bonding

**I have no idea how to write Sakura, but I tried.**

* * *

Sakura stared up at the older genin, heart hammering in her chest. Naruto had been _this_ close to opening their scroll when the silver haired man grabbed his wrist, appearing out of nowhere. After their fight with the Oto nin, she'd kept her guard up—their obsession with Sasuke rivaled her own and it wasn't ok—but he managed to pop up completely undetected. Naruto fell over onto his butt and grimaced as Sasuke ran over to them.

"What are you doing?" Kabuto demanded. "Don't you remember the rules?"

Sakura watched as Sasuke looked from Kabuto to Naruto and the scroll. His dark eyes were filled with exasperation as he shook his head, sighing heavily through his mask, the black fabric torn from combat with Zaku and revealing a tantalizing extra inch of skin.

"I can't take my eyes off you two for a second, can I?"

Naruto braced his hands behind his head, not the least bit apologetic. "With a view like this, why would you want to?"

Sasuke looked away sharply and Sakura smacked the goofy blond on the shoulder. "Stupid, go put your clothes on!"

He grumbled and trudged over to the pile of clothes, discarded so he could fish without getting get them wet.

Hanako's cute little dog came running out of the bushes, her long haired ears pinned back in annoyance.

"Where's Hana?"

Tch. Sasuke's normally even voice was thick with concern. Sakura looked around for the younger kunoichi, but there was no sign of her.

Kabuto ducked his head sheepishly. "Ah, about that. We were separated. We followed her trail to a cliff down river, but it cut off there. Momiji and I decided to continue looking for her while Yoroi and two other dogs head to the tower and wait just in case she heads there."

Oh? She was out there alone?

The idea that the girl who'd monopolized Sasuke's attention might not make it to the next round of the exam was exhilarating. She was always so perfect—so smart, so talented, so little and cute, ugh—that kind of failure would surely knock her down a peg or two.

"Don't worry, teme," Naruto drawled, draping an arm around Sasuke's shoulders with a smile. "Hana-chan's super strong, believe it!"

Sasuke's expression softened a little. "Hn."

Hmmph, clearly not strong enough not to be separated from her teammates. It was about time she got what she deserved, shannaro!

"Oh? So, this is why my ears were burning."

Everyone turned around in shock. There, leaning heavily against a tree, was Hanako Hatake. Sakura's mood soured instantly, but she took a grim sort of satisfaction from the other girl's disheveled state. She looked like something swallowed her.

She stumbled over to them, two brown puppies running amok beneath her feet. One of them yelped as she tripped over it, and Kabuto reached out to catch her.

"Thank the gods you're alright," he said with a kind smile. "We were worried."

She scoffed into his chest. "Uhuh, sure you were."

Uh, rude much?

"Wow, Hanako. That's no way to talk to your teammate after he came all this way looking for you."

Sakura didn't flinch when Hanako leveled her too black eyes on her, expression tired and devoid of emotion.

"He would have been here, anyway." She pushed him away from her, falling to her knees beside the fire Sasuke had set. "Some things can't be changed."

Um, what?

Being a genius didn't give her permission to be confusing!

"I don't know what's wrong," Kabuto said tentatively as he came to sit beside her. "But I'm glad you're ok. We found signs of combat, but no traces of people or the snake that took you. Can I ask what happened?"

Sakura blanched when Hanako responded by pulling her grime covered mask down. There was a clear line of demarcation between the muddy top half of her face and the slightly smudged bottom. Sakura took in her face with all the zeal of a lioness on the hunt, only to be left wanting.

There was nothing wrong!

Why the heck would anyone cover their face unless there was something they didn't want people to see? All her theories—hairy moles, buck teeth, an ugly scar—came to nothing! It wasn't fair, shannaro! How could she be so normal?

Hanako ran a filthy hand over her face. "You know that chick with the tongue?"

"The Kusa lady?" Naruto supplied from his spot on the other side of the fire.

"That's the bitch." Hanako seemed oblivious to everyone's scandalized reactions. "It turns out the snake that ate me was her summons. She got me alone and tried to goad me into conversation. She didn't even try to attack me until I made a move. Her team was nowhere in sight, and she didn't even try for the scroll." She shook her head. "Whatever she was trying to accomplish, she clearly didn't think it through."

Wait.

"You were eaten?" Sakura asked, aghast.

Hanako chuckled dryly. "I don't recommend it."

Ugh, gross.

"Ah, Hatake-chan," Kabuto reached into his hip pouch, bringing out a Heaven scroll. "Momiji and I managed to find this. The team it belonged to had apparently been killed."

What?

A chill fell over Sakura's body. Who would kill a team just to leave their scroll? That didn't make sense.

Hanako accepted the scroll and put in in her thigh pouch. Her eyes glowed and Sakura knew she'd used that icky seal of hers. Ugh, she hated watching her use it. It gave her the worst kind of goosebumps.

"You said Yoroi and the boys are waiting at the tower, right? Are Sano and Tetsu disguised as us?" At Kabuto's nod, Hanako pushed herself to her feet with a groan. "Alrighty, then. I'm not going anywhere until I've had a nap and washed the snake gunk from my hair. Oh! And I have a head wound you should probably look at." She started walking away from the little makeshift camp.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke called after her, looking for all the world like he might follow. Hmph.

"To take a bath," that stopped him in his tracks. "Like I said, this stuff is gross."

Sasuke looked really torn, and Sakura sensed an opportunity.

"She shouldn't go off on her own," she said with a smile. "I'll go with her."

Sasuke nodded, expression easing.

Yes! Take that, Hanako!

Sakura practically skipped after the shorter girl only to stop in her tracks.

There, standing barely out of Sasuke's sight, was a half-naked Hanako. And she was getting more naked!

"What are you doing?" Sakura demanded, rushing to her side. "Someone might see you!"

Hanako huffed as she kicked off her boots. "Right, because eleven year old girls are _so_ attractive."

Sakura inhaled, totally prepared to scold her sensei's daughter with all the might her one year's seniority gave her, when she noticed the bruises. Bright red blotches covered Hanako's skinny body, contrasting horribly with her pale skin and black tattoos. As she undressed, she revealed more bruise than skin.

"Gods, Hanako," Sakura whispered. "What happened?"

The small girl pulled a bottle out of her seal, blue light fading from her eyes as she met Sakura's worried gaze. "I might have taken a tumble of a cliff into the rapids downstream."

What?

"Hanako, that's horrible! How can you say it so simply?"

She shrugged, dunking her head in the frigid river water. "I'm still kind of in shock, to be honest. It'll be a miracle if I even remember this conversation."

She poured the contents of the bottle onto her head and began to scrub with concerning fervor.

Sakura wasn't sure what to say to that. Sure, she'd never really liked her sensei's kid, but she didn't want to hurt her—no matter how much Inner Sakura said otherwise. She wanted her out of the way, yeah, but not dead. Seeing someone as small as her, so young and bird boned, with so many bruises was disconcerting to say the least.

Hanako dunked her head back under the water, rinsing the shampoo from her hair. "Do you want some," she asked, holding the bottle out to Sakura with her eyes closed. "I see you joined the short-hair club. It looks good."

"Ah, thanks." Sakura awkwardly accepted the shampoo, biting her lip in consideration. Her hair _was_ feeling awful greasy, and it _would_ be nice to wash out any errant pieces of hair still clinging to her after her impromptu makeover. The memory of Kin's hand in her hair had her shuddering and she was once again grateful Sasuke and Naruto managed to get her out of there before she could be seriously hurt.

Like Hanako.

Whatever. She wasn't going to remember this, anyway.

"Keep a watch out for perverts," she told the other girl as she untied her hitai-ate. "You may be an exhibitionist, but _I_ have morals."


	30. Pein is a Stupid Name

**Tada! I konw my chapters are short-especially compared to some of the other fics on this site-but I feel I get as much done in a chapter as Kishimoto does in a chapter of the manga, so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯.**

* * *

Hanako ran alongside Kabuto and Team 7, Momiji on her back and the pups safely returned to the Summoning Realm—despite their many protests. Clean, dressed in a fresh set of clothing conveniently stored in her seal, and her head wound healed by Kabuto's iryo ninjutsu, she felt much better. Sakura had brought her up to date while they washed up, telling Hanako about the Oto nin's attack on Sasuke. Luckily, Orochimaru had gone after her instead of the Uchiha, so both he and Naruto had been able to fight them off. Sakura still cut her hair, though, and Hanako was a little glad her meddling hadn't robbed the other girl of her first big step toward character development—one of the only ones Kishimoto had ever given her, the miser.

The closer they got to the tower, the higher their chances of being ambushed became. She knew something else happened to the team in canon, but she couldn't remember what.

Without warning, she felt a nauseating film drape over her mind. A genjutsu! Luckily, the seal on her mind which rendered her immune to the Yamanaka hiden techniques also granted her some immunity to most basic illusions. Unfortunately, because of this, she'd never felt the need to study them and would likely fall victim to one cast by anyone with actual skill.

Everyone needed a weakness, right?

Privately resolving to add genjutsu to her study regimen, she reached up and flicked Momiji's ear. The dog startled.

"What was that for?"

Hanako held a finger to her lips, raising an eyebrow in silent signal.

The group stopped for a breather and she seized her chance.

"Gimme a sec, I'll be right back."

She turned her back on the group and ducked out of sight, followed only by the sound of Sakura explaining why no one should follow her. Heh.

Once they were alone, she and Momiji exchanged a heavy glance. Forming the hand sign for kawarimi, Hanako waited until the Papillon's brown eyes widened in understanding. In the next instant, they'd traded places, human and dog conveniently henged into each other. Hanako then kawarimi'd with a cluster of leaves she'd loaded with chakra a few trees back, filling the air with smoke as she left. To anyone watching, it would look like Momiji had unsummoned herself.

And there were people watching.

She'd forgotten the details of the attack on the way to the tower, but she _did_ remember Naruto exposing his massive chakra reserves to Kabuto as a result. They all got out of it ok and everyone made it to the next round, so she didn't have to worry about them. Dropping her henge as silently as she could, she leapt higher into the trees, falling back on the knowledge that most of the shinobi participating in the Exams hailed from lands without significant tree cover. Most of them wouldn't instinctively know to look.

Following behind her group, she kept a diligent eye out for whoever cast the genjutsu. So far, they were doing a pretty good job of staying hidden. Pulling down her mask, Hanako scented the air. Leaves, dirt, animals, people; nothing that didn't necessarily belong.

Drat.

Covering her face, she watched as the others began wandering in circles, no doubt caused by the genjutsu. Then, they stopped and began…shadow boxing? The illusion must have changed to include combat. A kunai flew from the trees, grazing Kabuto's arm.

Aha!

Hanako quickly made her way to the kunai's point of origin, careful to keep herself both out of sight and downwind. The attackers turned out to be a trio of genin from Ame.

Ame, as in Nagato.

As in Pein.

Shit.

Wait, no. This could be a valuable opportunity. If she could get these guys to send word back to Nagato, maybe warning him about Obito, then she might be able to mitigate some of the damage the Akatsuki would cause in the future.

Maybe.

No. No, that was a stupid idea. These guys wouldn't tell Nagato anything just because she told them to. She'd need a little insurance.

Settling down on the conveniently wide tree branch, she pulled her fuinjutsu kit from her seal. Unrolling a paper tag, she dipped her smallest brush into the ink.

Compulsion seals were tricky. She normally used seals to negate actions, not encourage. It was just easier that way; it cost less chakra and did less damage to the minds of her victims—ahem, opponents! A compulsion seal involved implanting a foreign desire into an otherwise sound mind. If the afflicted noticed the compulsion…well…everyone knew what happened to Rin.

Why couldn't she have been reborn back then? She could have completely circumvented all of Obito's nonsense just by saving one person. Ugh.

So, the compulsion had to be subtle enough to go unnoticed but strong enough to be obeyed. Hmmm. How to do it?

Maybe…targeting Konan would be better. She was less…stabby. She didn't want to kill the poor kids. She was also more likely to be seen in public than Nagato or his Peins. Yeah. Yeah, that could work.

Decided, she began outlining the basic components of the seal. So, when whoever got this thing saw Konan, they'd be compelled to speak to her. She was nice—sort of—and these guys were kids, so she'd probably listen.

Looking over the framework, Hanako sighed. Making people do things was one thing, but making them _say_ things…

Ugh.

The sounds of fighting intensified and she knew she was running out of time. Hastily adding in a phrase she hoped would make sense, she added chakra to the seal to activate it. Now, all she needed was skin contact.

Looking down at the Ame genin below her, she called up her silk threads from within her seal and launched them down. The chakra laden strings wrapped around an unsuspecting boy and pulled him up. His scream alerted his teammates, of course, but it also alerted hers. Team 7 was upon them before they could come after her and Hanako made her way up higher in the trees. A swift hit to the temple had the boy unconscious and she quickly undid the fastenings of his khaki body suit. Rolling him over, she pressed the seal between his shoulder blades and filled it with chakra. The longer she held it there, the deeper the seal would adhere. Once she was confident it lay on the lowest layer of dermis, at least, she redressed the boy and tied him to the tree trunk.

Naruto scrunched his face at her when she joined them down below.

"Hana-chan! You knew there was a genjutsu!" He crossed his arms with a huff. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Mah," she said with a shrug. "I didn't want to risk tipping them off. I found them, didn't I?"

Naruto grumbled, clearly still dissatisfied. Sasuke regarded her coolly before turning to his blond teammate.

"Go and grab their scroll, dobe. The tower is right there."

Ah, the tower. Hanako felt her body drooping at the thought. Soon, she'd have a hot bath and fresh food.

Momiji leapt onto her shoulder, agitating a bruise and making Hanako hiss in the process.

Yes, a bath would be wonderful.


	31. Repression

**Tada. Here's the next one. Hope everyone's having a happy and safe quarantine.**

* * *

_The girl opened her eyes, faint rays of sunshine disturbing her sleep. With a groan, she rolled over on her rough hay mattress, pushing herself up with chubby hands. A roughspun blanket fell from her shoulders and pooled around her waist as she rubbed at her eyes._

"_Moh, Yachiru, I thought I told you to get up already."_

_A young woman stood on the other side of the room, a basket balanced on her hip. Her wavy brown hair was pulled back away from her face and covered by a tattered bandana. The blue of her kimono complemented her peachy pale skin, setting off her black, black eyes beautifully. _

"_Mama," the girl said with a poorly stifled yawn. "I'm tired."_

_The woman laughed gently, the action revealing a charming gap between her two front teeth. "I warned you not to stay up so late. This is your punishment. Now, get up! You don't want to miss your papa, do you?"_

_Yachiru perked up, exhaustion forgotten, and flung herself from the bed. She pulled her overlong sleep clothes over her head and began rummaging through another basket next to the creaky bed. Her mother chuckled and stepped out through the only door, letting light into the one roomed building. The girl struggled in her haste to put on a green shirt and semi clean pants, tripping over herself several times. She ran a hair through the mop of curls on her head, finger catching futilely on knots as she tried to make herself presentable without a mirror. Giving up with a sigh, she trudged through out of the hut and into the sunlight, squinting as her eyes adjusted. There, across the way, stood her mother. She was looking up at a shadowed figure, expression forlornly resigned. _

_She always looked like that when saying goodbye to papa. _

_The grass tickled the bottoms of Yachiru's bare feet as she crossed the clearing, her pace slowing as she grew nearer to her parents. Her father wore black, as always, his body concealed by an all encompassing cloak. The face Yachiru had never seen was hidden beneath a veiled hat, the thick, gauzy fabric obscuring his features perfectly. _

_Sometimes, in Yachiru's most private nightmares, her father took off the hat and had no face at all underneath. _

"_Ah, there she is," his voice was deep and soothing, bringing up memories of bedtime stories and half botched lullabies. "My little princess."_

_Yachiru reached up and tugged at her father's sleeve. "Papa, do you _have_ to go? Can't you stay a little longer?"_

_He chuckled, placing his gloved left hand on her head and undoing all the work she'd done to tame her curls. "Sorry, princess, I have to go. I'll bring you back a present."_

"_Promise?"_

"_I promise."_

"_Oh?" Her mother sidled up to her husband, a theatrical pout on her lips. "And what about me? Don't _I_ get a present?"_

"_Of course," her father said with an audible smile. "Whatever you want, Rin."_

* * *

Hanako stared up at the dark ceiling, mind carefully blank.

Nope. Nuhuh. Not thinking about it. That is a problem for another day. Future Hanako can deal with it. Present Hanako is going to the kitchen!

Dragging herself out of bed, not unlike the Yachiru in her dreams, she slowly made her way through the silent tower. Her team had made it to the tower with a day to spare, so all that was left to do was wait. There were other teams there, too, of course—Gaara's was one, the trio from Kumo was another—and they were all stuck in the tower together until the third day was done. Luckily, it seemed like everyone—sans Gaara, of course—was asleep, so she'd probably have the kitchen to herself. Dawn wasn't for another couple of hours, and she needed some time to collect her thoughts before she faced anyone.

There was someone in the kitchen.

Sighing quietly to herself, Hanako made to leave.

"Hey, wait a sec, you don't have to go."

She turned around and met Kankuro's dark eyes. Ah. He wasn't wearing his face paint.

They stood there, staring at each other, for a solid minute before Hanako realized she wasn't wearing her mask, either.

Oh, well. Can't be helped.

She stepped into the galley style kitchen, reaching past a still frozen Kankuro to open the fridge. Pulling out a tin of plain yogurt, she dug around in a drawer for a spoon.

"Woah, kid, why the hell do you cover your face?"

Mah, of all the questions…

"You first," she said blankly as she hopped up onto a counter. "Why do you paint yours?"

It was a legitimate question. All she'd ever found on the internet were fan theories, so hearing it from the source would be nice.

He leaned against the counter opposite her, crossing his arms over his chest as he shrugged. "It's part of the uniform, I guess."

"For the Puppet Corps.?"

"Yeah."

Well…that was underwhelming. She'd read something somewhere saying that traditional Japanese puppeteers wore similar make up, so maybe it really was that simple?

"Your turn," he said with a surprisingly attractive smile. "Why wear a mask when your face is fine?"

Mah, should she really answer this?

He'd answered her, though…

"I look like my mother," she said, finally, carefully avoiding his gaze. "I just got tired of seeing her in the mirror, I guess."

The air between them felt stuffy and awkward and she immediately regretted her honesty. Silently, she ate her yogurt, scraping at the bottom for just a little more.

"Damn, shorty, that's depressing."

She snorted. It was a loud, ungainly sound that hurt her face. Yogurt stung her sinuses as she clutched at her face to stifle her laughter.

She looked up at Kankuro, the older boy's face twisted in a wry smile. "You don't know the half of it."

His dark brows quirked. "Oh, yeah? I bet I can guess."

Oho?

She let herself grin. "Go ahead, then. Guess."

His eyes lingered on her teeth just long enough for her notice. Placing a hand on his face, he put on a show of thinking. "Let me see, your dad's Kakashi, so your mom's probably someone important, too—probably from a big clan, right? I don't think it's the Inuzuka—you're nowhere near as loud as that kid—and it sure as hell ain't the Hyuuga or Uchiha, so…" He snapped his fingers. "It's the Nara!"

Oh, God, he was so wrong. So horribly, obnoxiously wrong.

"And," he continued. "I'm guessing this Nara mom of yours probably died, right? Likely on a mission which brought great pride to your village, am I right?"

Mah, he looked so confident, too. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

"Wrong." Ah, quiet shock on his face was a nice change from the perpetual smug grin. "Well, not entirely. My mom did die, just not on a mission." Was it ok to use her like this? Yachiru's stubborn revival aside, Hanako never really felt anything for the woman in her dreams. She only refrained from speaking about it because it made other people uncomfortable.

And made her stand out.

"Oh?" He cocked his head, grin already in place again.

She nodded, adopting a forlorn expression and staring off into the middle distance. "She was murdered."

Kankuro froze, expression falling slowly.

"It was a long time ago," she continued, tone purposefully flat. "I barely remember anything from before it, but," she met and held the Suna teen's eyes. "I remember her face. I remember the blood, and the cold water of the river. I remember being trapped in a corpse's embrace." Idly, she began to wonder how much of this was trying to scare Kankuro and how much was just venting. "I remember my father, finding me after that. So, no," she pulled her lips up into a smile, knowing full well that her pointed teeth were on display. "My mother brought no pride to my village."

Ah, had she overdone it? He was looking rather green. Mah. May as well finish what she started.

"I don't wear a mask to hide my face from others, like most people probably assume. I wear it to hide from myself."

Poor Kankuro. He was so underqualified for that therapy sess. Oops.


	32. So it Must be, For So It Is Written

Ah, the preliminaries.

Also known as the part where Hanako finds out if random generation can be canon.

Hanako sat with her back against the wall, listening with her eyes closed as the other participants complained about the arrangement. True, the preliminaries were a little unorthodox, and no one except her had really anticipated them, but to complain so loudly with the Hokage in earshot was a little…

"Hey, brat."

Hanako opened her eyes and looked up at Shikaku Nara, her sensei smirking down at her benignly.

"Hay serpientes en el bosque. Tenemos que decirle a Anko."

She watched as his smile froze before growing. His eyes were serious as he spoke. "Entiendo. Algo mas?" His accent was still a little weird, but way better than Shikamaru's.

"Hay crías en las hojas. Su madre está disfrazada de sonido."

He nodded, patting her on the head as he turned around and made his way to the Hokage on the other side of the arena. All along the raised walkway, teams stood with their senseis. The air was tense with anticipation, and even Hanako wasn't immune.

Things were different now.

And it wasn't just her presence she had to worry about. Kabuto hadn't dropped out. Instead, a member of the Kumo team had stepped down, citing injury, leaving an uneven number of participants. To make up for this, one genin would get through to the finals without a fight.

Heck, the Kumo team was the most worrisome aspect of all this. Orochimaru and his spies were easily countered, but these guys? These guys had Killer Bee as a sensei. The Hachibi jinchuriki stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, gaze obscured by dark sunglasses. The two Kumo genin still fighting stood nearby, their own expressions closed off and guarded.

Whose idea had it been to invite them? Did no one see the potential for disaster there?

Whatever. On the bright side, Neji had set aside some of his animosity to stand in front of a cowering Hinata, glaring at the foreigners from the exact opposite side of the arena. Enemy of my enemy, and all that.

The giant screen hanging from the ceiling chimed loudly and everyone looked up at it.

Huh. **Sasuke vs. Yoroi.**

Just like canon.

And, unlike canon, Sasuke had no curse mark to hold him back.

An easy win, then.

"Hey," Sakura said with a scowl when Hanako remained where she was. "Aren't you gonna watch?"

Hanako shrugged. "What's the point? The outcome's already decided."

"Huh? What do you mean, Hana-chan?" Oh, Naruto.

"She's right," Shikamaru drawled as he took a seat beside her. "Sasuke's got this in the bag. Why waste energy watching when we can be planning, instead?"

Hanako nodded. Her thoughts exactly.

Sakura pursed her lips and turned her attention back to the fight just in time to watch Sasuke land his finishing blow.

Not even two minutes, dang.

Well, that's Sasuke for ya.

Next up, **Shino vs. Zaku** the annoying Oto guy.

Again, just like canon.

At this rate, it looked like nothing was going to change. Hanako felt goosebumps rising all over her skin. If nothing changed, then Lee…

**Kankuro vs. Kabuto.**

Oh, that was different.

Her body deflated with relief and she scooted over the railing to better watch the fight.

"What, is this one not obvious?" Sakura sneered. Poor girl was still acting her age, huh?

"It would be, if Kankuro was fighting anyone else," she answered seriously as the boys got into position. "Yakushi-senpai throws a wrench into things, though."

"Oh?" Temari looked down at her with a smile while Gaara remained balefully aloof. "Feel like sharing?"

Hanako reached out and touched Gaara with her chakra, smoothing any rough edges she came across as she smirked up at his sister. "Not really. I'll give you a hint though," she turned back to the fight. "Strings can be cut."

She meant that in more than the literal sense, though she doubted anyone who heard her would recognize the meaning. How ironic that the puppet would be fighting a puppet master. Poor Kabuto.

She half expected him to throw the fight, to be honest, but she wasn't too surprised when he claimed a solid, if prolonged, victory. His chakra scalpels had cut right through Kankuro's chakra strings, rendering the puppets useless.

Temari hummed in appreciation. "What an interesting technique."

"It's a medical jutsu, if you'd believe it," Hanako supplied willingly. "I'm pretty sure Yakushi-senpai's the first one to weaponize it since Tsunade-hime, herself."

That wasn't something she was supposed to know, but being the Jounin Commander's apprentice had its perks.

Kabuto rejoined the cluster of Konoha genin with surprisingly genuine smile on his face. He'd been forced to quit before reaching this stage before, so she supposed it was only natural he be glad to advance in this, his final run.

"Good job, senpai," she said happily.

"Thanks," he replied, wiping nonexistent sweat from his brow. "I'm glad that's over with."

After that, every fight progressed exactly as she remembered them and the knot in her stomach grew tighter and tighter. Lee…

**Hanako vs. Karui.**

"Damn," Kankuro said with a whistle. "Kid, you're _really_ depressing."

She looked up at the giant kanji which made up her name and smiled grimly. "I told you, so."

With little preamble, she jumped down into the arena, carefully extricating her chakra from Gaara's as she prepared herself to face the Kumo kunoichi.

Chouji's future wife looked down at her with contempt, red brows furrowed in a scowl.

"Seriously?" She crossed her arms and popped her hip in a show of disdain. "Who let the kid in here?"

Oh. One of those.

Rather than acknowledge her, Hanako instead began taking stock of what she knew about her opponent.

It wasn't much.

Raiton and kenjutsu were the only things which came to mind, plus a fiery temper. Barely enough to work with, but—.

The moment Hayate Gekkou gave the signal, Karui launched herself forward. Hanako barely had enough time to twirl away, drawing on her years of sparring Neji and Lee to dodge the larger girl's blade. Hanako fell into a defensive stance, rocking on the balls of her feet as she waited for her opponent's next move. Karui lunged again, and Hanako leapt into the air and bounced off her opponent's back, touching the hanging screen with a smirk before landing with a roll in the arena below. Thus, began a carefully controlled pattern of lunge, dodge, wait, repeat. Hanako watched with growing satisfaction as Karui's movements became increasingly jerky and uncoordinated. This was her go to strategy: wear down the enemy and then strike when they either a, lose their temper, or b, run out of stamina.

Karui looked to be type a.

Of course, this demanded that Hanako, herself, have stamina to spare. She'd spent the past six years wisely, training under Guy as much as Shikaku in the hopes of balancing herself out. She'd completely forgotten about genjutsu, though…Oops.

"Man, is this what it looks like when _I_ fight Hana-chan?" Naruto didn't even try to keep his voice down. "I didn't realize I looked so lame."

Oof.

"Yeah," Shikamaru sighed as Hanako dodged again. "She's a great teammate, but the world's most annoying opponent."

Hey.

Hopefully, Karui's hearing wasn't as good as Hanako's—.

Yeah, no, she definitely heard them.

With a twisted glare and an aggravated snarl, she ran at Hanako once more. This time, her blade was wreathed in lightning.

Belatedly, Hanako realized her opponent hadn't used any jutsus. Was she trying to win using only taijutsu? To be fair, Hanako hadn't used any either, but that was mainly to frustrate Karui into making a mistake.

Like the one she was making now.

The sparking blade gave off a lot of light, throwing the rest of the arena in shadow. It was like a strobe light, making Karui's approaching figure all the more menacing. Everyone watched as Karui's blade made contact with Hanako's chest, sliding into it with little resistance. Hanako's body blurred, the color fading as the water clone abandoned its shape in favor of enveloping Karui. The water conducted her lightning, forcing her to experience the very pain she'd planned on using against Hanako. Karui's mouth opened in a scream, but the water trapped the sound. Less than a second later, she fell limp and the water splashed to the ground in a puddle.

"What the heck?" Sakura asked, looking around the arena with wide green eyes. "Where did she go?"

Kabuto chuckled behind a hand. "Hatake-chan did say that foreign ninja might be at a disadvantage in the forest, but I didn't think she'd use the same tactic here." The clustered genin all looked to him in surprise and he pointed a finger upward. "Take a look."

Hanako smiled down at her friends as they all turned their gazes upward. She'd switched places with a water clone when she touched the jumbo screen at the beginning of her fight. The clone was mostly for show, and couldn't really take much of a hit, so she'd kept up the dodging routine until Karui finally gave in to her anger. It was just a matter of letting nature take its course after that.

Hanako let go of the screen, landing on her feet in the center of the arena. Medics were already checking Karui over and she heaved a sigh of relief as they told Killer Bee and her teammate she was fine.

Thank god.

Hanako bowed to Karui's prone figure before leaping back up to her place between Shikamaru and Temari. Huh, maybe she should have chosen a different spot? These two were fated to be, after all. It wouldn't do to get in the way of romance.

**Gaara vs. Lee.**

Oh no. No. NONONONONONONO.

Hanako clutched at the fabric of her haori, hands shaking with fear and something else. This fight was important, for both Lee and Gaara. Lee left a lasting impression on the people around him on the importance of hard work and dedication and used his time in the hospital to reaffirm his own ambitions and reasons for becoming a ninja. Gaara faced an opponent who actually made him work for a victory, forcing him to look at Lee as something more than just another insect to be stepped on.

There was a reason so many people shipped them, ok?

And, while she knew everything would turn out fine, for both of them, she couldn't help but tremble at the thought of the upcoming fight. Lee was her friend. Her _first_ friend. Heck, her _**best**_ friend. They didn't spend as much time together now as they used to, but they were still incredibly close. The idea of him ever even entertaining the idea of not being a ninja any more hurt her heart in ways she didn't fully understand. And she also knew that whatever happened in the arena wouldn't be entirely Gaara's fault, because Shukaku was an asshole, which made this entire situation completely messed up. Things were rarely black and white, but she really preferred it when they were. At least, then, she knew who to blame.

Lee jumped down into the ring, all exuberant bluster, and Gaara dissolved into sand only to reform across from the boisterous teenager.

Was there anything she could do? Anything at all?

The answer was clearly no. The fight progressed exactly as was written, with Lee dropping his weights in his iconic revelation of strength and Gaara's sand have increasing difficulty defending against Konoha's Green Beast. She watched with mounting horror as Lee opened gate after gate, his skin reddening with the effects of his released chakra. Her eyes burned as she watched Gaara's sand armor crumble, his manic expression revealed for all to see as he crushed Lee's limbs in his Sand Coffin. Her best friend's screams resounded in her ears as tears flowed freely down her face.

"Lee!" She couldn't contain herself any longer. "You can forfeit, Lee. There's no shame in knowing your limits!"

Neji scoffed, the sound barely audible over his teammates cries of agony. "That failure should have known better."

Hanako rounded on him, glare so intense she felt the heat in her brain. "Watch your fucking mouth."

Neji's pale eyes widened, face going slack in shock. She'd sincerely tried to groom him out of that nasty superiority complex of his, but nothing she did ever seemed to have any lasting effect. She'd leave it to Naruto, then.

Turning back to the arena, Hanako watched as Lee's blood soaked Gaara's sand. The image of both boys lying on the ground and Guy standing between them burned itself into her brain, a high definition photograph of her worst nightmare come to life.

She was vaguely aware of Gaara leaving the arena, but she kept her gaze fixed on Lee. They were loading him onto a stretcher, and she made to follow when a hand fell on her shoulder. She followed it up to her father's face, his expression changing rapidly from shock to confusion to sad resignation. With a sigh, he placed a hand over her eyes, the burning sensation finally leaving them.

"I'm so sorry, kiddo."

A swift hit to the back of her neck and she was out.

* * *

**The translation of the Spanish in this chapter is as follows:**

**H: "There are snakes in the forest. We need to tell Anko."**  
**S: "Understood. Anything else?"**  
**H: "There are (snake) young in the leaves. Their mother is disguised by sound."**


	33. Family Ties

**As some of you know, I was originally going to give Hanako to Asuma and have her be a Sarutobi. The point of conflict then would have been that Kakuzu was her actual father/grandfather. Obviously, things have changed, but I thought you might be interested to know my initial plan.**

* * *

Sasuke struggled to keep his eyes open against the glare of green medical chakra, the shinobi doctor's hand hovering less than an inch from his face. The hand pulled away, revealing the doctor's Anbu mask, and began the same procedure on Hanako. She was laying back on a hospital bed, her unmasked face as pale as the sheets. He remembered watching Kakashi take her away during the preliminaries and having no answer when everyone asked him about it. For once, he was just as clueless about the Hatakes as everyone else. It wasn't a nice feeling.

He turned to look at his sensei where he sat on the other side of Hanako's bed, his head propped in his hands and an eerily blank expression on his face.

"What's going on?" He asked, only half expecting an answer. "What's wrong with Hana?"

Kakashi's one visible eye flicked from him to the Anbu doctor. The masked shinobi sighed before removing his hand from Hanako's face.

"You were right, Captain," his voice sounded tired. "She has the Sharingan."

What!?

Sasuke leapt to his feet, the folding chair clattering to the floor with the motion. "What are you talking about? How—what—how is that possible?"

Kakashi let out a long, tired breath. With a single gesture, he dismissed the doctor. When they were alone, he pulled a paper tag from within his jounin vest and stuck it to the wall. One of Hanako's privacy seals, then. Sasuke froze under the combined weight of his sensei's gaze and chakra, the latter a comforting layer of static which dampened his anxiety.

"Sasuke," Kakashi began seriously. "What I'm about to tell you is a village secret. It absolutely cannot leave this room."

Sasuke swallowed thickly, nodding his head.

"Hanako isn't my daughter."

What?

"Not by blood, anyway," Kakashi ran a hand through his silver hair. "She was born outside the village—raised there, until she was five years old. You knew all that, though." Yeah. Everyone did. "The truth is, your brother and I found her in the woods while on a mission. Her mother had been killed—pretty savagely—and she was wandering around looking for help. We have no idea who her family are, if she has a clan, or if there's anyone out there still looking for her. After weeks of searching, we found no traces of combat or habitation within a fifty-mile radius of the village, which raised the question of why they came so close in the first place. Although," he sighed and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "The answer to that's pretty clear, now, huh?"

Sasuke followed his sensei's gaze down to Hanako's sleeping face. He knew her mother had been killed, but he'd never asked about it—he wasn't _that_ insensitive—and the new information suddenly raised a whole new batch of questions.

"Wait, is she an Uchiha?"

Kakashi shrugged. "If every person born with a Sharingan is an Uchiha, then, yes. All I can say for sure is that it's very likely her mother knew she might have one and was probably trying to bring her to the village for the clan's protection."

Sasuke stepped forward, head bowed as his mind ran circles in his head. "Did—did she know?"

"Come on, squirt, you know that's not something she'd keep secret."

Yeah. Yeah, he knew that. But…

He looked up at the man who'd been all but forced to take him into his home; the man who, until two seconds ago, was the only other person in the village with a Sharingan—the only outsider his clan trusted to keep one. Those had been Hanako's arguments when convincing them both to accept the Hokage's decision to place Sasuke in the Hatake's care—a decision she most definitely had a hand in. Four years of living with the weirdest father-daughter pair had lessened his heartache some, but not entirely. When he thought of what might have happened had Hanako made her Sharingan known from the start—

His blood ran cold. She would have been there, that night, targeted by _that man_. No. It was better this way. This way, he still had someone waiting for him to come home; someone who made him bentos and told jokes at his expense. She didn't have to be an Uchiha to be that someone, but now that he knew she was…

A hand ruffled his short hair and he looked up at the man who'd somehow crossed the room without him noticing.

"Mah, squirt," Kakashi chuckled dryly. "No need to look so glum."

"What are we going to do?" Sasuke asked with clenched fists. "If people find about this, she'll be a target."

"She's already a target, but I get what you're saying." Sasuke watched as Kakashi aged ten years in an instant, exhaustion and worry dragging down what little of his face he could see. "It'll be a tough sell, for sure, but…"

"But what?"

"But~," Kakashi drawled, his momentary vulnerability already being covered by a saccharine smile. "Lucky for us, her Sharingan isn't normal."

Sasuke waited for the jounin to elaborate. When he made to leave without saying anything else, he reached out and caught the man's sleeve.

"How isn't it normal?"

"Hmm? Oh, didn't I say? How forgetful of me." Ugh. Sasuke hated when Kakashi acted like this. It was his go-to tactic to avoid talking about or doing uncomfortable things. "Well, you see, squirt, her Sharingan is blue."

What.

"That's impossible."

Kakashi was already nodding along. "Yep, no, I agree with you. If she hadn't looked me dead in the eye, I'd be saying the same thing." He ruffled Sasuke's hair again, a terrible habit. "I have no idea what's going on, squirt. I'd tell you if I did. The most important thing now is controlling the flow of information. So, while I'm off reporting to the Hokage, you're going to impress upon a certain Hyuuga the true value of silence."

Sasuke stared blankly up at Kakashi for a solid minute before his meaning sank in. "Neji saw it?"

"Mah, I wonder? I'd certainly hope not."

Right. That was the whole point, wasn't it? To make sure Neji said nothing, even if he saw something.

"I can do that."

"I never doubted you, squirt."

* * *

When Hanako opened her eyes, it was to blinding white light. As her eyes adjusted, she slowly became aware that she was in a hospital room, wearing a hospital gown and laying on a hospital bed.

Why though?

She wasn't hurt, as far as she could tell. Limbs: functional. Pain: nonexistent. Her eyes were itchy, but that was probably from being asleep for god knows how long. Rubbing at them absently, she got to her feet and pressed a hand onto her chest. Oh. Right. It had become such a reflex that she forgot she could only access her seal like that when wearing clothing she'd made herself. Oh, well. Her clothes were probably around here somewhere.

Except they weren't.

Huh.

She looked around for a nurse call button but found none. Strange. Why would she be in the Anbu ward? That didn't make any sense. The window was barred and reinforced, and the door was locked from the outside with no indoor mechanics. Anxiously, she wracked her memory for anything she might have said or done to warrant this kind of caution.

Nothing. What the ever-living hell?

Now properly miffed, she set her sights on air vent. It was too small for most Anbu level jounin to use, but she was the littlest genin. If she could get the vent cover off, she should be able to escape through the ventilation shafts.

If.

Ah, but the walls were chakra repellant. Boo. She'd have to get creative, then.

Activating her seal, she pulled a spool of silk thread from the ink on her palm. Running her chakra through it, she sent it up into the air, poised like a snake, and looped it around the screw heads holding the vent in place. It took very little effort to saw through the screws and remove the vent, and Hanako idly wondered how the heck they managed to keep actual Anbu locked in.

Oh. Right. They stripped them.

Not everyone had seals. She sometimes forgot that.

Once safely inside the vents. She carefully crawled along on her belly, listening at every opening to help orient herself. It was probably an hour before she managed to reach the public side of the hospital, and even longer before she managed to find a secluded place to exit. Of course, she couldn't just wander around in a dusty hospital gown. One pilfered set of scrubs later, and she was on the move. They were obscenely big on her, but the hospital wasn't very busy and civilians knew better than to comment on the strangeness of ninja children.

While she knew she should probably flag down someone who could tell her what was going on, she didn't want to risk limiting her hard-won freedom so soon. So, she decided to pay a visit to anyone she knew on the roster instead.

Rock Lee.

The instant her eyes landed on that name, she was suddenly very aware of her situation. Damn it! How the hell had she managed to forget about Lee? How, when she could conjure up that fight with perfect clarity, every grain of sand in high definition?

Disgusted with herself, she headed for his room, dragging her feet ever so slightly. She didn't even have any flowers. Should she have stopped at the gift shop? Before her musings could stop her, she'd reached the door.

There was a familiar chakra waiting inside.

Oh, geeze.

She pushed open the door, not at all surprised to see Gaara standing there, his sand whirling around the room like a natural disaster waiting to happen.

"Gaara."

He flinched at the sound of his name and he turned around, clearly surprised to see her. She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, never taking her eyes off his face.

"Gaara, what are you doing?"

His chakra roiled violently under hers, bucking wildly against any attempts to soothe. Oblivious, Lee slept peacefully.

"What's wrong, Gaara?" He stepped back as she approached and she stopped, hands spread placatingly. "What happened?"

His green eyes were wide as he took in her appearance, and she realized she probably looked a little weird. With a sigh, she pulled off the doctor's mask covering her face, letting the Suna genin see her face for the first time.

"Gaara, talk to me. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

He let her step closer, but she stopped just within his reach. He was skittish and uneasy, and she didn't want to provoke him while Lee lay helpless only a few feet away.

"Gaara?"

His chakra engulfed her, surrounding her with pain and confusion and something else too big to name. It was overwhelming and sad and she felt tears welling up in her eyes from the force of it.

"Oh, Gaara, it's ok," she reached out and took his hand in hers, privately thankful he allowed her the small overture. "It'll be alright, Gaara, I promise."

She did her best to bolster her words with her chakra, but the weight of his anguish was hard to bear. She could feel her own anger and sorrow rising up within her in response, feelings made tender by Lee's silent presence.

Damn it, she was supposed to be the adult! How was she going to calm Gaara down if her own emotions were running rampant?

Was it puberty? Had she finally reached that age, again? Wonderful.

And, now she was crying in earnest. Great. Just perfect.

Before she could truly register what she was doing, she had already wrapped her arms around Gaara for the second time, crying into his shirt. Again. His chakra swirled around her, carrying notes of concern along with the overbearing anger and confusion which had set her off. Ah, she was really making a muck of things, wasn't she? At this rate, she'd be 'that crying girl' in Gaara's mind forever.

That would be lame.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed as she pulled back. "I did it again—!" Gaara pulled her back against him, his chakra flaring in agitation. "Gaara, what—?"

"Hey, let Hana-chan go!"

Oh. Oh no. Naruto.

She'd completely forgot about this part! Ah, what should she do? Her grip on Gaara tightened as his chakra clashed with Naruto's, the two boys likely unaware of what they were doing.

But Hanako wasn't.

Naruto's chakra was wilder than Gaara's. It was more indignant than angry but just as confused. It was also rougher and harder to handle, its edges abrasive as it tried to invade the bubble Hanako had made for herself in Gaara's embrace.

Sigh. It was time to mediate.

Gaara resisted when she tried to step away, so she used her chakra to build a wall between the two jinchuriki. It was harder than it should have been, with the effort leaving her panting slightly. They really wanted to fight, didn't they?

"Geeze, Naruto, can't you see we're interrupting something?" Shikamaru! "Let's just leave them alone. We can see Lee later. It's not like he's going anywhere."

Ouch.

"But, but Shikamaru!" Naruto's voice was high pitched and whiny. Hanako could just picture his scandalized expression. "We can't just leave them like this! What about Kiba?"

Excuse me?

Hanako was hard pressed to keep her annoyance from her chakra, but some of it must have come through since Gaara let her step away from him.

"What about Kiba?" She asked darkly.

Naruto looked away guiltily while Shikamaru only sighed. He gripped the shorter blond by the back of his shirt and dragged him out behind him, calling out an apology behind him while Naruto squirmed like a cat in a sack.

Ugh.

Hanako rubbed at her eyes, wiping away errant tears. Being a teenager had sucked the first time, but it looked like it would be worse this time around. Did shinobi training amplify teenage idiocy? If so, that would explain so much.

"I'm sorry, Gaara," she said with a wan smile as she took a seat on the edge of Lee's bed. "It must seem like all I ever do is cry."

The red head didn't respond, his gaze locked on the still open door. His chakra, however, settled a bit. "Who is Kiba?"

She looked up at him in surprise, her hands wrapping absently around one of Lee's. It was cold. "He's the Inuzuka from the exams. He had a dog with him?"

Gaara hummed quietly in response and she could feel his gaze on her as she placed a hand on Lee's forehead. It was cold, too.

"You are sad."

She huffed a little, mirthless laugh. "Yeah, well, that's my name, isn't it? 'Grieving child'. May as well live up to it."

Oops, he didn't like that. His chakra was so angry it was a miracle he wasn't growling.

"Of course, I'm sad," she continued in a rush. "My friend is hurt and there's nothing I can do to help."

Oh no. He didn't like that either.

Of course, he wouldn't! He was the one who hurt Lee! Gah!

"A-and," she added stiffly. "I had to watch my friends fight. You both fought so hard and all I could do was watch as you hurt each other. That will always make me sad."

His chakra lost some of its bite, but it still swirled around her, catching at the edges of her mind like a desert wind. Then he and his chakra were gone, a scattering of sand on the hospital floor all that remained.

What a drama king.


	34. Barking Up The Wrong Tree

**So, I commissioned an image of Hanako in the outfit I describe below. It's on my tumblr, exhausted-dog-mom, and you can find it by searching the tag Shinobi Isekai. I wish I could just link it here for you, but****¯\\_(ツ)_/¯.**

* * *

The slamming door set off a round of barking, filling the house with the comforting cacophony of dog and human voices.

"Kiba!" He rushed through the house but wasn't quite fast enough to escape his mother as she grabbed him by the back of the neck. "Careful, you brat! We've got a guest!"

"Huh? Who would wanna come—gah! Hanako-chan!?"

The guest in question raised a hand to cover her unmasked smile. The Inuzuka clan compound was always bustling with life, the people much more open with their emotions than most clan shinobi. Over the years, Hanako had often run away to the Inuzuka kennels whenever pretending to be a child had become too much. Dogs didn't care if you acted your age. Dogs just wanted to be pet and play silly games.

Well, dogs that weren't magical summons from another dimension, anyway.

Maybe that was why none of her summons got along with the Inuzuka ninken. Were they jealous?

"Hey, Kiba-kun," she said happily. "Long time no see."

She watched as he stammered in place, Akamaru happily abandoning him to lounge in her lap. The poor kid suffered from a terrible condition known colloquially as 'the childhood crush'. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't flattering, but he was more than a little overbearing at times.

"Ah, Hanako-chan!" He yelled, tripping over his feet as he scrambled over to where she sat at his kitchen table. "I-I-I didn't know you were coming!"

Like that. Kiba was a competent ninja, she knew that, but all his skills went out the window the moment he noticed her. Kinda like Hinata with Naruto, now that she thought about it. Huh.

His face was as red as his tattoos as he looked at everything but her face, hands tugging roughly at the fur lined hood of his jacket. Behind him, his mother smirked knowingly at them. Ugh.

Hanako felt her lips curling of their own accord and she rushed to school her expression before Kiba noticed. It wasn't his fault all the adults shipped them.

And it wasn't as if they were without reason.

Hanako had long ago resolved to be the best heir clan Hatake had ever seen and bring the clan out of disgrace, to repay Kakashi for his generosity if nothing else. In her mind, that meant reaching rank tokubetsu-jounin or higher, participating in the clan council, and, least appetizing, producing the next generation. As a female heir, she faced the same struggles as Ino and Hinata in finding a husband whose rank wouldn't challenge or overtake her own. Of course, Ino eventually solved that problem by marrying Sai—a man with no clan—and Hinata abdicated her position to her sister, Hanabi. Hanako's situation was much more precarious as there was no future for her to refer to. Kakashi's mother and Tsume's had been cousins, the daughters of sisters—_primas hermanas_, as Bethany would have called them—and the two clans were ancestral allies with intermarriages predating Konoha's founding. Kiba was a second child, and a son in a matriarchal clan. As much as Hanako hated to admit it, he really was the best choice for her.

Looking at his blushing face, she had a feeling he knew it, too.

Not that she had anything against Kiba. Sure, he was a little loud and rough around the edges, but he was an Inuzuka, and a teenage boy, besides. She could vaguely remember his older self from the anime, so she knew he'd mellow out at least a little, and hanging out with Shino and Hinata had already made some marked improvements in his disposition. Eventually, he'd probably be quite the catch.

Eventually.

Eugh. She felt like a pedophile for even considering it.

"I heard Aoi finally had her puppies," she said with a smile. "I thought I'd stop by and congratulate her before things get busy."

He nodded excitedly, blush already fading—though not entirely—as the surprise of her presence waned. "Yeah! She'll like that! Come on, I'll go with you!"

Hanako hopped off the tall chair, Akamaru cradled in her arms, and followed behind the taller boy as he threw off his jacket. He looked much smaller without it, but he was still much larger than Hanako. He'd hit his growth spurt first out of the boys in his class, and he was already filling out.

Ack! No, Hanako, do not ogle the child! Do not!

Sometimes she wondered if her mind had regressed to match her body. That would be horrifying.

The kennels were loud and smelled like dog, but that was fine. It was why she came, after all. Kiba lead the way into a secluded part of the kennel and Hanako smiled at the sight of Aoi and her puppies. The new mother was a large breed similar to a Malamute or Husky, but different. Larger. Her curly tail wagged eagerly as she recognized the humans stepping into her birthing den, the mewling of her pups growing in volume as they reacted to their mother's excitement. Hanako knelt on the ground near the squirming pile of dogs, but not too close, and waited for them to come to her.

"So," Kiba began, patting Akamaru's head as he sat cross legged beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Does something need to be?"

His face twisted. "Well, no. I know you come here all the time, just 'cause, but the only time you dress all cute is—!" He cut himself off, face flushing hotly.

Well. He was surprisingly astute.

It was true. Hanako had a habit of dressing up whenever she felt down. It was hard to be sad when her reflection made her smile, after all. She looked down at her outfit. A pale green kimono style top tucked into a darker green floor length skirt with embroidered hems and pink ribbons, it was modeled after her memories of Chinese historical dramas and wuxia novels. She'd even gone through the trouble of styling her hair, pulling half of it up into a pair of buns.

Yeah, ok, he had a point. She really had gone the extra mile, today.

She smiled, reflexively raising a hand to cover her mouth. "Thanks, Kiba-kun. I appreciate it. I'm just," she sighed, reaching out to offer her hand to a puppy to smell. "Well, I'm just confused, I guess. You know how I was in the hospital for a bit after the preliminaries?"

"Yeah, why?"

"That's what I want to know. I have no idea why I was there, and every time I ask, they say I should ask my dad, but _he_ won't tell me either." She huffed angrily even as the puppy gnawing on her fingers lifted her spirits. "It's really annoying, since he took off with Sasuke to train for the finals but told _me_ to lay low and stay in the house."

Kiba was quiet, hands occupied playing with his own set of puppies. Then,

"It isn't because of your Sharingan?"

Hah?

She turned to look at him, agog, and he rubbed at the back of his neck nervously.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop or anything, I just kind of heard it when Sasuke was talking to Neji—."

"Wait, wait, wait," Hanako placed a hand on Kiba's arm to stop his rambling. "Start from the beginning. Please."

His sharp gaze lingered on her hand before he cleared his throat and continued. "L-like I said, I wasn't trying to listen in, I just happened to be in range. It was last week, while you were still in the hospital, and Akamaru and I saw Sasuke at training ground eight. I thought I'd say hi and ask if we could visit you, yet, so I headed over to him, but he was already talking to Neji. It looked like they might start fighting, so I figured I'd just ask later, but I still caught some of their conversation." He looked a little uncertain but continued after a quick glance at her face. "Sasuke was telling Neji to keep quiet about your Sharingan, since it was another clan's business and might make you a target for foreign ninja while he and your dad are out of town. I got out of there before I could hear anything else, since I kind of figured you would have told me about it yourself if you wanted me to know."

Holy shit. A Sharingan. What kind of Mary Sue bullshit was this?

"I-I'm sorry, Kiba, I didn't know, either." She looked at him imploringly. "I swear, I wasn't trying to keep secrets." Boy, was _that_ the lie of the century.

Kiba looked away, blush once again rising in his cheeks. "Yeah, I see that now. Though, I don't get why your dad wouldn't tell you about it. It seems kind of important, what with the finals and all."

Yeah. She agreed. Not only that, but with a Sharingan, she could…

No, she'd think about that later. Right now, Kiba deserved a little praise.

She turned to smile at him, only to freeze when he caught her hand on its way up to cover her mouth.

"You know," he said hesitantly, eyes looking at everything but her. "You don't need to do that. There's nothing wrong with your smile, Hanako-chan. It-it's cute."

Hanako stared, wide eyed, at the blushing teenager, his own pointed teeth on display as he grinned nervously down at her.

"Yeah," she said, smiling earnestly. "Thanks, Kiba-kun."


	35. Mounting Dread

**I've decided. Chapter 69 will be from Jiraiya's POV.**

* * *

Jiraiya sneered down at his godson, the little Minato clone scowling back up at him with equal ferocity. Gods, but he looked like his mother when he made that face. Behind him stood a girl no older than ten, her dark eyes watching them with dry amusement above a white mask not unlike Kakashi's.

"Listen, brat," he said with an edge to his voice. "I don't know what you think of me, but I have no interest in little girls. So, your little friend can just," he made a shooing motion with his hand, never even looking at the girl. Honestly, what was Naruto thinking, bringing his little girlfriend around when they had serious training to do?

"Excuse me, Jiraiya-sama," the girl interjected, placing a hand on Naruto's arm before he could go off on a red faced tirade. "I would like to speak for myself before you dismiss me, if I may."

Well, well, well, a kid who knew his name. There was no way Naruto had told it to her, the cheeky brat.

"Fine," he allowed, squatting low so he could look the girl in her dark, dark eyes. "Speak."

She bowed, her brown curls falling forward with the motion. "My name is Hanako Hatake, Jiraiya-sama, and I dare presume Hokage-sama has told you about me."

Well, damn. That mask wasn't an imitation of his obnoxious grand-student's, it was an inheritance. What was it Sensei had said about the littlest Hatake? Something something murder, something something adoption…

"I apologize for approaching a man as important as yourself for this, but there is no one else who can help me—."

Jiraiya waved his hand crossly, already annoyed with the thick flattery. "Just get on with it, kid. Naruto and I have training to do."

She met and held his gaze, the weight of it too old for someone her size. "I would like to receive a mastery in fuinjutsu."

Oh.

Well, damn. He really was the only one who could help her, huh?

He sighed and rolled his neck, looking the kid over with new eyes. She was little, even more so than Naruto, whose height had suffered due to childhood malnutrition. Her eyes were large and dark and way too mature, set beneath straight dark brows and a head of shoulder length brown curls. She wore a white shirt/mask number under a pale green haori and black pants tucked into worn, closed toe boots.

Definitely not standard ninja wear.

"Alrighty, then," he rose to his full height, towering over the two genin. "You can come with. While Naruto's doing his exercises, you can show me some of your seals."

She bowed, unmoved by Naruto's loud complaining. As he led the way to the riverbank he and Kushina's mini-me had been using for training, he wracked his brain for info on the weird little girl.

Naturally, he'd been notified of her existence when she joined the Hatake clan all those years ago, but he couldn't recall anything beyond her exceptional grades and something about an apprenticeship. Oh, well, if it was important he was sure he'd remember it.

He set Naruto and his army of clones off onto the running water of the river, working on staggering the amount of chakra each clone contained. With the hellion occupied, he squat down once more and gestured wildly at the girl.

"Well?" He prompted. "Go on."

She stared blankly at him for a moment before throwing off her haori, exposing slender, freckled arms and dark, winding tattoos. She held out her hand to him, palm up, and began speaking as he took it.

"I've memorized the Second Hokage's sealing arrays and theories," she said as he traced the edges of what was clearly a seal—and one he'd seen before, if his fuzzy memory could be believed. But where? "I've also read all of the Fourth's commentary and additions to the literature. Your think-piece on the role of redundancies in action based arrays has proved very influential in my own seal designs—."

"Ah!" He tugged on her hand, twisting it as he followed the loopy writing system around her arm. "Ume!"

He smiled down at the confused little girl. "Hey, kid, mind taking off your mask? I wanna check something."

Her brows furrowed but she pulled down the white fabric with her free hand. The face that looked up at him was familiar, in a far off, diluted way. There was the pointed chin and the full upper lip, but the nose was wrong, too small and missing a storied break. That look in her eyes, though, that unasked 'are you stupid?', confirmed his suspicions.

"You," he said with a smile. "You're Ume's kid, huh?"

She cocked her head, and he did some quick math.

"Wait, no, grandkid. You're Ume's grandkid!" His smile began to fade as her expression remained unchanged. "Ume? Ume Sumigawa?"

The kid looked away, dark eyes filled with more confusion than recognition. "I'm sorry, Jiraiya-sama," she said softly. "I don't recognize that name."

Huh.

"Ume Sumigawa," he began, already lost in the memory. "Was a beautiful woman, with seals just like yours. I remember watching her use them for the first time—hey, use them, for me, yeah?" Sure enough, that blue glow was the same. "Yeah, it looked exactly like that! She was one heck of a woman, with the best thighs I've ever seen—!" He cleared his throat, shrinking away from her unimpressed glare. "Aha, anyway, you look like her, too, kid, so I'm willing to bet you're related, even if you don't know her name. Although," he took his chin in his hand. "One must wonder how you got here, when Ume lived in Kiri."

"What?" The kid's eyes were wide and Jiraiya found himself in the odd position of looking down at his past lover's expression on a child's face. Eugh. Why the hell did people have kids when it was this freaky to look at them? "Kiri?" She bit her lip, revealing a sharp set of the Hatake's signature double cuspids. "Then, would she have left when the kekkei genkai hunting began? Or my mother?"

"I dunno, kid," he said with a shrug, once again running his fingers down the thick, black bands that were her tattoos. "This seal isn't a kekkei genkai, though I guess Kiri wouldn't have cared all that much, back then."

"What do you mean?" She asked, gaze following his fingers like a hawk.

"Just what I said, kid. It's a hiden, not a kekkei genkai. I remember because Ume made sure I never saw the whole thing, even when we were—ahem!"

That glare was all Ume. There was no way this kid wasn't a Sumigawa. The hair, the freckles, the tattoos!

"Sumigawa," she said quietly. "My mother's name was Rin Sumigawa." She looked up at him, a wide smile splitting her face. A pair of deep, all too familiar dimples made their presence known and a yawning cavern of dread opened up in his gut.

Oh, no.

"H-hey, kid," he let her pull her hand from his, sweat beading on his forehead as he ran panicked math in the back of his mind. "How old are you?"

"I'm eleven, why?"

"A-and how old is your mother?"

Her smile dropped. "The coroner said she was probably in her early twenties when she died."

Oh, oops. But…

Damn, the numbers lined up.

"Kid," he said as he stood, placing a large hand on the little girl's head. "I'm gonna ask for some weird things, and I'm gonna need you not to ask any questions."

She craned her neck back, staring up at him with Ume's patented 'you can't possibly be this dumb' glare. "Why?"

"Just listen to your elder and do as you're told," he snapped, heart beating a mile a minute. "I need a blood sample, and access to your mother's autopsy records. Can you do that for me?"

She stared up at him and for a moment he thought she might actually say no. Then, her eyes narrowed in an expression all her own. "Fine. But can it wait until after we've gone over the mastery stuff? I want to get it done while you're still in the village."

He nodded, hiding his apprehension beneath a layer of half felt enthusiasm. "Yeah, sure, no problem kid."

"And another thing," she said, expression and tone deathly serious.

He swallowed thickly. "What is it?"

"Are Hitomi's tattoos in Icha Icha Expedition Volume Three based on Ume's?"

Huh?

"What the heck is a kid your age doing reading Icha Icha Expedition?" He demanded, unexpectedly cross.

She shrugged. "My dad's your biggest fan. We have the whole collection on display in the living room."

Oh, geeze.


	36. Finally

**"When will Hanako tell someone about the future?" You ask. Now. She tells someone now.**

* * *

Momiji looked up at her summoner, the preteen girl tearing up tufts of grass in an anxious tell she would need to grow out of. Hanako was a strange child, but the same could be said of any shinobi child. Momiji had always appreciated the girl's serious nature and level head, especially when compared to other children her age. Still, she and the rest of the pack—even those under Kakashi—had noticed how forlorn she was. At first, they chalked it up to lingering grief for her mother, but as the years passed, it became clear that she was simply melancholy by nature. Perhaps that was why she received such a damning name? Had her chakra always borne such weight?

Still, such a name was…

"Momiji," Hanako said without looking at the dog. "I don't know if you heard about this, but I apparently have a Sharingan."

Ah. Yes, she'd heard.

"Apologies, Princess," she said with honest remorse. "Boss specifically asked us not to tell you."

Her summoner sighed. "That idiot. I don't know why anyone ever puts him in charge of anything."

Momiji chose not to comment.

"That's not the point," Hanako's tone was serious, but her chakra was agitated, revealing an inner struggle Momiji was not privy to. She turned her fathomless black eyes on the dog, expression more intense than she'd ever seen it. "Momiji, who are you loyal to; me, or my father?"

What kind of question was that? Certainly, Momiji owed a degree of loyalty to Kakashi as the head of the Hatake clan, but her summoner was her number one priority.

Hanako's eyes expressed a sad smile when she said so.

"I'm about to ask something totally unfair from you," she said quietly. "I can only hope you won't hate me for it."

"I could never hate you, Princess."

The human scoffed. "That remains to be seen." Her doubt was insulting, but she continued before Momiji could protest. "I'm going to try and use my Sharingan to cast a genjutsu on you. I've been studying them, so I hope I'll get this right. If I do, can I ask you to keep whatever you see a secret? At least until I say otherwise?"

This was serious. Hanako's chakra was still agitated, radiating nervous energy even as her dark eyes beseeched Momiji for her cooperation. Whatever the child wanted to show her, she clearly considered it very important.

"Alright," Momiji said with confidence. "I will keep your secrets, Princess."

The tension didn't leave Hanako's body narrow shoulders, instead seeming to mount as she took in a deep, steadying breath. Momiji's hackles rose as the girl began channeling her chakra. There was no guarantee she'd even be able to activate the Sharingan at will, given that she'd only activated it the one time under extreme emotional stress.

Momiji's doubts were laid to rest when the black began to bleed out of her summoner's irises, leeching into the pupils and leaving a familiar pale blue in their wake. A single tomoe rotated sluggishly as her gaze focused.

"Woah," her voice was breathless, almost like she'd run a few laps with Guy. "That's…weird."

Momiji waited patiently as the girl adjusted to the changes in her vision, her own nerves mounting in response to Hanako's own anxious chakra.

"Ok. Are you ready?"

No, but nothing would come of saying so.

Falling into a genjutsu when you know it's going to happen was a little strange. Momiji prepared herself for emotional manipulations and physical movements outside her control—typical genjutsu stuff.

She was not prepared to be an invisible spectator to a play about the history of the world. Gods, a love story, children with horns—nothing to warrant Hanako's anxiety, thus far. Then, the ten-tails made itself known, and Momiji was suddenly engrossed. Bijuu, reincarnation, talking tree men, world ending genjutsus, a flattened Konoha, implanted Rinnegans, the walking dead! The story was long and convoluted, jumping around in some places and played out by familiar faces made strange by cartoonish overlays. Despite the horrifying tale unraveling before her eyes, Momiji couldn't help but notice something strange.

Where was Hanako?

Nowhere did her summoner feature in the story, and there were several bits which reflected event Momiji had witnessed, but with Hanako's conspicuous absence. A maskless Sasuke left the village, plagued by a curse mark she knew he didn't have. Gaara seethed under Shukaku's influence, hatred far more poignant than the boy she knew. Naruto ran amok in the village without an ally in sight.

What was this?

The genjutsu fizzled out of existence and Momiji sat stock still as the light of the setting sun filtered through the leaves of the tree they sat under. Her mind twisted over itself trying to understand the show she'd just watched. She looked up at her human.

"What—?"

Hanako rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her palms, scrunching her nose with a groan. When she looked at Momiji, her irises were black once more.

"I don't really know how to explain it," she began. "But that's the future—_a_ future, I guess. I—I've known it since I woke up on the riverbank. Only that." Her straight brows furrowed. "Everything I told the Hokage—told Kakashi—was a lie." She buried her face in her hands, hiding tears that Momiji could smell.

Of course, this was all troubling news and, had she not just witnessed a most fantastical play, Momiji might have held it against her. Knowing the kind of wretch Danzo was—and the freedoms Hiruzen had allowed him—it was hard to blame a five year old for trying to protect herself.

It was no wonder she was so mature. The weight of such knowledge would burden anyone, let alone a child.

"Why haven't you told anyone?" Momiji asked delicately. "You know the Boss would believe you."

Hanako clenched her fists. "What could he do? There are forces at play here that he can't face on his own, and the more people who know about this the greater the chance of betrayal. Kakashi might believe me, but Shikaku? Inoichi? All the other people who would need to be involved to actually make a difference?" She shook her head. "No. I can't risk having Obito or Zetsu finding out about this. I've changed things, but they're small. The ripples are manageable, so far, and haven't really changed the story. The only advantage I have is knowing what will come. If I change things too much, I lose that upper hand."

It made sense. Momiji hated to admit it, but it did. She'd sat in on many of Hanako's lessons with Shikaku Nara, so following her logic wasn't hard. Giving up such a powerful advantage would be foolish, no matter how many allies it might gain her.

"What will you do, then? You can't do nothing."

Hanako sighed heavily. "I need to gather proof of Danzo's crimes against the Uchiha. If I can get people to start looking into that, everything else should start unraveling. Kabuto needs to know what Orochimaru has planned for him. If we can get him on our side, we can rule out Edo Tensei, which will keep Madara out of the picture. Obito can be our main focus, then." She sighed again, the tension rushing from her body in one fell swoop. "You have no idea how nice it is to talk about this with someone."

Momiji jumped up into her summoner's lap, snuggling with the sniffling girl. "It's alright, Princess. I've got you."

Hanako pet the dog with a grateful hum.

"I still think you should show this to more people," Momiji said softly as Hanako scratched her ears in just the right way. "Just a few in strategic places. Shikamaru, for example. He's a major player, anyway, so his involvement won't be out of place and he'll know better than to change too much too quickly."

Hanako wiped at her eyes. "Yeah, I've thought about it. I just didn't have a way to explain it in a way people would believe before now, you know? I'm still not sure I got it all right."

"It was a little patchy in places," Momiji admitted gently. "But that's fine. You can practice with me until you get it perfect."

Hanako ran her fingers through Momiji's fur. "You're the best, 'Miji. I don't think I could do this without you."

If Momiji were human, she'd probably be biting her lip. "Hey, Princess? I'd like your permission to tell someone about this."

Hanako looked down at her in concern. "Who?"

"One of the elders in the canine Summoning Realm. I think he might be able to help."

Hanako considered it for a long moment before nodding hesitantly. "Ok. If you think it will help."

She did. If anyone could make a difference, it was the Raiju.


	37. Midnight Musings

**Next chapter: The invasion begins!**

* * *

Gaara pressed a hand to his temple, pressing down in a vain attempt to keep the pain at bay. The pulsing headache had worsened over the course of the day, and he knew Mother would be making demands soon. The last month had been strange. He'd resisted Mother more in the last few weeks than he could remember ever doing, before, and she, in turn, had not pressed him as hard as she could have. There was a fragile equilibrium between them, now. One which he felt might shatter at any moment.

"Gaara?"

He tensed, sand rising up around him in response to Hanako's voice. How hadn't he sensed her? He knew the positions of the various Konoha Anbu watching him where he sat on a roof top, could sense civilians in their homes, but, somehow, she had slipped under his radar. He turned to look down at her where she leaned out of an open window, the yellowed light setting off golden highlights in her brown hair. Her mask was off, and he beheld her face for the second time, noting the pointed tips of too large teeth as she smiled up at him.

"What are you doing up there?"

Inside him, Mother's chakra roiled.

**Why is she here? How long has she been watching?**

She cocked her head inquisitively. "I live here, silly. This is the Hatake compound."

Had he spoken aloud? Not good. If Mother was already taking control, he had to get away from Hanako as quickly as possible.

"Stay there," she said as if in response to his thoughts. "I'm coming up."

_**NO!**_

Hanako had already leapt up onto the roof, a blanket wrapped around her narrow shoulders. She came over to sit beside him, knees pulled up to her chest. She smiled up at him, teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

Were they why she wore the mask? It was unnecessary, if so. They were unnerving, to be sure, but hardly unattractive.

"So," she asked, bumping his shoulder with hers. "What's up? Can't sleep?"

She didn't know the half of it.

**Cheeky brat. She knows the answer to that question. Don't listen to her. She's manipulating you.**

Was she? Her soothing chakra was already reaching out to him, wrapping him up in a foreign calm. There was something different about it. The anxious undercurrent was gone, replaced with a still certainty. No longer a stream rushing nowhere, her suiton was a deep seated river with a set destination. There was still that hazy overlay of grief, though, tinting every other emotion with a tangible sadness, but it wasn't as thick.

Something must have happened.

"Hn," he answered lamely, unsure what to think about Mother's words in the face of Hanako's honest chakra.

**Fool. That's literally the first skill any manipulator learns; how to be honest without being honest. What she feels doesn't have to match what she says.**

That was true. He was still hesitant to believe it, though. Not after she clung to him so tightly in the Forest of Death. The memory of her fear and pain had his own anger rising up alongside Mother's. If even _he_ couldn't elicit such a reaction from her, then what had Orochimaru done?

A pang of guilt rang through him and he frowned at the foreign emotion. He and Mother were in agreement when it came to the snake—he was an unnatural fiend to be avoided at all costs—but his loyalty, however thin, was to his village. If his father saw fit to ally with the snake, then he would do his part and kill any who stood in his way.

Even Hanako.

Another flash of guilt ran through him at the thought. She'd been so kind…

**Because she wants something,** Mother insisted. **They always want something! Show no mercy!**

"Hey, Gaara," she said softly, head craned back as she gazed at the full moon. "Can you do me a favor?"

**See!?**

She turned black eyes on him before the disappointment could set in. "Don't hold back against Sasuke."

What?

She smiled, dimples catching his eye as she continued. "I know you're way stronger than him—than any of us, really—and I know you've been holding back a lot, so far. Sasuke is a strong genin," she huffed. "But only a genin. He was the Rookie of the Year, and he's stronger than most of his peers, so he thinks he's a lot better than he is. He's a frog in a well with no idea about the world outside Konoha. Someone his age giving him a good smack down will a be a much needed wake up call, I think."

Gaara stared openly at her, and even Mother was at a loss for words.

**Does she know what she's asking? **

She smiled when he repeated the question, resignation in her dark, dark eyes. "I'm not asking you to kill him—in fact, I sincerely hope you don't—but Sasuke needs this. He needs to understand that there are people out there who are stronger than him, that he isn't the best. Uchiha in general have a tendency toward arrogance, and, with no one else to compare himself to, he's developed an inflated sense of self. As his friend, I would prefer that illusion be broken here, in the village, under controlled circumstances where I and others can help him rebuild in the aftermath than out in the field where it could spell his doom."

**This kid isn't normal. She's a freak. Her eyes are freaky, her brain is freaky, her**_** chakra**_** is freaky! Don't let her corrupt you! She'll turn on you like everyone else once she gets what she wants from you. She'll leave you in the dirt! I'm the only one who'll stay! Listen to me!**

She must have sensed his inner turmoil, because her straight brows furrowed. "I understand if you don't want to. It is a bit selfish of me. I just thought," she trailed off and shook her head. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"No."

She looked at him in surprise and he realized he'd spoken aloud.

"No," he continued, trying desperately to ignore Mother's hissing. He wouldn't hold out for much longer. "I can do it."

Her smile was wide and brilliantly white, those eye-catching fangs glistening. "Really?"

He looked away. "I was going to beat him, anyway."

She laughed, the sound light and airy. "I know, Gaara. Thanks."

"Mah, kiddo, this'd better not be what it looks like."

Both genin turned to see Kakashi Hatake leaning out of the same window Hanako had come from, sinlge eye trained on them with mock civility.

Gaara could feel his annoyance, the emotion radiating off the legendary jounin in waves. Beside him, Hanako made a show of rolling her eyes, her own exasperation rolling over him.

"Daddy, please. I'm eleven."

A silver brow rose with dramatic slowness. "Which is exactly why you shouldn't be having moonlit dates with foreign nin. Get in here."

She sighed bodily, leaning against Gaara in an obvious display of defiance. "But daddy, Gaara's my friend."

Warmth welled up in him at her words, a tiny, private joy taking hold in his heart. Kakashi's lone, dark eye zeroed in on him.

"Mhm, right. _Friend_."

She whined, scrunching her face in an expression Gaara hadn't seen before. On anyone.

"Daddy~."

"In. Now."

"Ugh." She stood and Gaara immediately felt her absence, his side where she'd leaned chilled by the night air. "You're just a clone! Real daddy would let me stay."

Clone-Kakashi dropped his smile. "In."

"Fine." She looked down at Gaara with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, Gaara. Good luck."

He didn't respond—he had no time to—as she leapt back down to her windowsill, blatantly ignoring the clone as she slipped back into her home. The clone leveled one long look on Gaara before closing the window and drawing the curtains shut.

**Hmph. How ridiculous. As if that girl would hold any appeal.**

Yeah. Ridiculous.


	38. The Invasion

**Tada! I tried to write more than one scene in this chapter, but I'm not sure I like it. I feel like I rambled a lot and ended up regurgitating the manga in places. Idk. Tell me what you think.**

**Also, I started writing another Naruto isekai fic set in the Founders Era. It's a more mature story than this one with a very different MC, so check it out if you like. :)**

* * *

Hanako sank into her seat in the participants' box. Kabuto leaned up against a wall, arms crossed over his chest with a vapid smile on his face. He was up against Shino, like Kankuro would have been had things gone according to canon. She wanted to speak with him, to try her hand at the heralded 'Talk no Jutsu', but the opportunity had yet to present itself. If she couldn't get to him, then that was that. She knew enough of his story to counter it, but she would rather not have to. Kabuto, like so many other canon antagonists, was a victim of tragedy and questionable mental health. If she remembered correctly, it was his fragile sense of identity which served as the root of his madness. If she could fix that…

A thought for another day.

Her match was against Kumo's Omoi, about whom she knew very little beyond his loyalty to Killer Bee. Not that she _needed_ to know anything. They were slotted to fight last, and Sasuke should get back from his father-son bonding trip with Kakashi before they actually had to fight. If not, then…

Well, she'd cross that bridge when she got to it. Gaara was radiating aggression where he sat on the other side of the box, his sister eyeing him nervously. Mah, that boy.

She'd go over to him, but Shino was sitting next to her and she didn't want to offend the quiet boy by leaving him behind. Instead, she reached out with her chakra, just barely skimming the tumultuous edge of Gaara's.

Just to let him know she was there.

Shino looked down at her, face expressionless but speaking volumes.

"I'll explain later." Where he won't hear me talking about him.

Her friend nodded. "I have not seen you in some time. Are you well?"

Hanako sighed. She knew she didn't look her best, and Shino was hardly the first person to ask after her health. Her skin was paler than usual and the delicate skin around her eyes was noticeably red. The stress of the Exams coupled with her plans for the invasion were starting to take a physical toll. Hopefully, once everything was resolved, she could take a moment to rest.

"I'm alright, Aburame-kun," she said softly. "Just nervous."

He cocked his head. "Why? Have you not been training?"

She had, but not for the fight against Omoi. Her eyes stung from all the practice she and Momiji had put into her dojutsu. Although, she did have one trick up her sleeve that she'd been saving. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to use it yet, though.

She smiled. "Don't worry, Aburame-kun. I'm as ready as I can be."

On her other side, Shikamaru sighed. "You're overthinking it, Hana. Just relax until it's your turn. This whole thing is so troublesome."

His words, though said under his breath, were clearly heard by the others in the box. Temari bristled at his blatant disregard for the Exams.

"Is that an attitude to be taking when your friend is down there getting beat into the ground?"

True, it didn't look good for Naruto, but Hanako had faith.

"Naruto will win," she said firmly. Everyone turned disbelieving eyes on her.

"Oh? Is this another obvious fight?" Temari asked with a smirk. "Do tell."

Ah, well, she kind of had to, now, huh? She cleared her throat. "Mah, well, Neji-san's confidence will be his undoing."

Shikamaru nodded in consideration. "Yeah, I can see it."

"Do you care to elaborate?"

It was the first time Omoi had addressed her, and a part of her knew he was probably using this as an opportunity to better understand his opponent, but she had no plans of fighting him, anyway, so whatever.

"He believes that his victory is guaranteed," she said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Losing is impossible in his mind, so he isn't taking Naruto seriously. Neji's never lost a fight, you know, so he just doesn't understand the kind of grit and determination Naruto has accumulated as someone who _always_ loses." She tossed the attractive older genin a smile over her shoulder. "It takes more strength to get back up than to stay standing, you know."

A considering light entered his dark eyes and he smiled around his red lollipop. "Yeah, it does."

Oh, sweet. He was nice. Good. That would make her plans go so much smoother.

She turned her gaze back to Kabuto, just in time to catch a serious expression on his face as he watched her. It was gone in an instant, replaced by that sugary fake smile.

"Wow, Hatake-chan, you have a lot of faith in Naruto-kun."

She smiled thinly. "Of course, I do. He's worked really hard to get here. From dead last to the Chunin Exams within a year of graduation. It's quite the jump, don't you think?"

"That kid was last in his class?" Temari asked, surprised. "Isn't that clone jutsu a jounin level technique?"

Hanako smiled, pride swelling in her even though she knew he would have been just as amazing without her. "It's a forbidden technique, actually. The amount of chakra needed to use it like he does can easily kill jounin level shinobi. Naruto's an Uzumaki, so his chakra levels are naturally higher than most, but he has another advantage, too."

Temari's slender brow rose in question. "Oh?"

Naruto chose that moment to release Kurama's chakra, catching everyone's eye. Great swaths of red chakra filled the air, whipping around like the fox's tails. Hanako bristled as the animalistic chakra brushed against her own, raising her hackles against Kurama's terrible anger. Gaara stiffened, his pale eyes fixed on the yelling blond in the arena. Omoi, too, was rod straight, lollipop stick drooping from a gaping mouth. Hrm. That might be bad. Oh, well.

Naruto won. Whoohoo! She cheered just as loudly as anyone else in the stands, giving out a shrill whistle in celebration.

"Huh," Omoi said once things settled down. "You were right."

She smiled at him. "I usually am."

Temari scoffed. "Oh? Then, how will the next match go?"

"Well, since Sasuke has decided to take after my dad and be abysmally late, the next fight should be between Aburame-kun and Yakushi-senpai."

"Eh!?" Naruto exclaimed, having just rejoined the group. "What do you mean he's late? Teme still isn't here?"

Hanako shook her head as Naruto took a seat on the other side of Shikamaru. "Nope. Knowing Daddy, he's probably putting him through some last minute exercises."

"But he'll be disqualified!"

"No he won't," Shikamaru snorted. "He's the last Uchiha, Naruto. Literally everyone here wants to watch his match. The Hokage will have to issue a postponement if he wants to avoid a riot."

Naruto looked to Hanako for confirmation.

"He's right. Sasuke's lucky he's the scion of his house."

Shikamaru sighed loudly. "This means my fight's moved up, doesn't it? Tch, how troublesome."

Naruto laughed at his friend's expense, a loud guffaw cut off by the announcement that Sasuke's match had been postponed. "Woah, you guys are psychic!"

"It can seem like it," Kabuto agreed, as he stepped over to the railing. "They're just smarter than the rest of us." Then, he called out to the proctor, forfeiting his match.

Huh. Some things really can't be changed, can they?

Shino watched him with tangible displeasure as he made to leave the participants' box.

"What? Come one, Kabuto-san! You're finally here! You can do it!"

Kabuto chuckled in the face of Naruto's outrage. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I'm afraid I can't go any further than this."

Naruto stood blubbering as Kabuto left. Hanako got to her feet.

"Not you too, Hana-chan!"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not forfeiting, Naru-nii. I'm just going to go talk to Yakushi-senpai. I want to make sure he's alright."

"But what about Shikamaru's match?"

She smiled and left without a second glance, rushing down the hall after her one time teammate. This might be her only chance.

"Yakushi-senpai!"

He stopped, turning around with a surprised expression.

"Hatake-chan? Don't tell me you also—."

"No, no I didn't. I wanted to speak with you."

His mask slid back into place. "Oh? What about?"

"The invasion."

He froze and she took the opportunity to barrel through.

"I know it's going to happen. I know Gaara is meant to be the big flashy distraction while Orochimaru fights the Old man using the resurrected corpses of the First and Second Hokages and I know things are not going to end the way you want them to. So, please, Senpai, reconsider."

He stared at her, dark grey eyes wide with honest shock. "H-how…?"

"I don't have time to explain," she insisted. "But Senpai, your life will only get so much worse if you go with Orochimaru. Konoha is flawed, deeply so, but it's not so far gone that you need to throw it away. I'l vouch for you. You're Root, so we can push it all on Danzo, please—."

"How do you know all that?" His tone was harsh and his expression void of all affection. This was the real Kabuto, she realized, and she was glad to finally see it. "Not even the Hokage knows about that."

"Shall I recite your life's story, too? You woke up on a battlefield with no memories, were taken in by Yakushi Nono who was a Root agent herself and—."

He held up a hand to stay her, the other coming up to cover his glasses. "Stop, stop! That's enough. How?"

She growled in frustration. "I told you, I don't have time to explain. I'm lucky I even got this chance to speak with you."

He looked down at her, his entire body taught like a line of ninja wire. "Why?"

She sighed. "You deserve better than what you'll get if you go with him. You—."

She cut herself off, freezing as she recognized the angsty chakra running up against her own. No! Not yet!

She turned around and looked into pale green eyes. "Gaara."

Damnit! How much did he hear?

Kabuto placed a hand on her shoulder, laughing softly when she jumped at the contact. "Thank you for your concern, Hatake-chan. I will consider your words."

No!

He was already walking away, and Gaara was too unstable to leave alone. Damnit!

She took a moment to calm herself, deep breaths and counting backwards bringing her temper back in check. It wasn't Gaara's fault she'd gone and fostered a dependency in him. Agh! Why couldn't she just leave well enough alone? She knew everything would turn out alright for him, so she could have just let him be!

Who was she kidding? No, she couldn't. She never was one to ignore a child in need.

"Hey, Gaara," she said at long last, reaching to him with her newly calmed chakra. "What's up?"

"He angered you."

Well, actually.

"Haha, you noticed? I've been trying to convince him to join my team permanently, but he's a little attached to his current sensei, so we butt heads."

Gaara stared at her, clearly not buying her flimsy excuse. Hanako deflated. Honesty really was the best policy.

"Oh, alright. That was a lie. I can't tell you the truth, though, so please don't ask."

He kept staring, chakra still agitated as it wrapped her up in the stinging of windblown sand. For a moment, she feared he would push her for answers, or that he'd overheard enough of her conversation with Kabuto to recognize her as a threat to the invasion. Death by sand did not sound fun.

"Naruto," he said slowly, clearly choosing his words. "He isn't…normal."

Oh, thank God. She could work with this. "Yeah, he's a jinchuriki, like you."

He looked at her sharply, clearly stunned.

"Killer Bee's one, too. There are lot here, now that I think about it."

Lies. She'd thought about it a lot, had planned around it, depended on it.

"How?"

She smiled at Gaara, letting the expression be as honest as possible. "I've known since the moment I laid eyes on you, Gaara. I can feel Shukaku's chakra under yours."

He immediately pulled his chakra back, leaving her feeling oddly bereft. "You're a sensor?"

She sighed. "You know, you're not the first person to ask me that. I'm starting to wonder myself, now."

It would certainly be convenient. She still doubted it, though, since she could only sense chakra signatures after touching them with her own. From what she remembered, sensors could 'see' chakras from a distance and recognize them on sight. She was fairly sure that her bastardized ninshu was less versatile than actual sensing, but if calling it that helped people sleep at night, then more power to them.

"Gaara," he flinched, hands rising to clutch at his head. Oh no. "Gaara, please, look at me." She stepped forward, through the wall of swirling sand, and gently pulled at his wrists. "Gaara."

He looked up at her, the face of his sand armor still stoic, though she had a feeling he looked very different underneath. "Why?"

"Gaara, I don't care that you're a jinchuriki. It makes no difference to me."

"I-I've killed people."

She huffed a small laugh. "You're a ninja, Gaara. It's in your job description." One she never followed, but still. This wasn't about her. "If killing people makes you a monster, then everyone in this arena is one, too."

His chakra was churning violently, burning her own where they touched. Digging deep, she bolstered her chakra and tried to calm him down. If not, then to at least impress upon him how completely unafraid of him she was.

"Gaara," she said softly. "I believe in you. I know it can't be easy, having Shukaku whining in your ear all the time, but you've come this far. I have faith you'll go much farther, too."

"Mah, kiddo, I was hoping my clone was lying."

She didn't turn around. "Your clone should mind his own business."

"Mah, be nice to the clones. They're just doing their job." Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder, clutching her tightly. "Let's go on up, hm? Sasuke's already in the arena."

Already? How long had she been down here? Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand, leaving her alone with her father.

Come on, Gaara. Not fair.

"So," he said with false cheer. "Want to tell me what that was all about?"

"Not really," she answered honestly, ignoring the way his grip on her shoulder tightened. "It's private."

"Hanako."

She looked up at him, brows furrowed crossly. "You don't get to ditch me for a month only to question how I spent that time, Dad. Gaara is my friend. A good friend. End of story."

He seemed shocked by her sudden vehemence, and guilt had the wind leaving her sails. She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his jounin vest and taking in his scent. Kakashi wasn't really one for physical affection, hair ruffles and pats on the back as close as he ever got. But Hanako was a hugger, and she needed on right then.

"I'm sorry."

"Mah, kiddo. What's going on with you?"

"If I say puberty, will you drop it?"

"Like a hot kunai."

She laughed and pulled away from him, scrunching her face when he ruffled her hair. "Mah, Daddy, what are you going to do when it actually happens?"

He smiled easily. "That's what Pakkun is for."

Oh, that poor pug.

"Come on, kiddo. Let's go watch Sasuke's fight."

Yeah, yeah she could do that. Her nerves were back with a vengeance, her insides churning with anticipation. Soon, everything would start. Was she ready? Would her plan be enough? Would her presence and interference just make everything worse?

Oh, she really didn't feel good.

They stepped into the participants' box just in time to watch Sasuke activate the Chidori. Hanako leaned over the railing, watching with mounting trepidation as his lightning wreathed hand punctured Gaara's ball of sand. He pulled it free, sending the sand crumbling to the ground and revealing an injured Gaara. This was it, she had to act now. No time to sit around and hope that Kabuto had a change of heart. The first tingle of genjutsu brushed against her brain as she leapt into the air, leaving Kakashi behind as she rushed to the Kage's box. The sounds of explosions almost drew her attention, and she knew the giant snakes had come.

Hanako landed with little grace, rolling into the wall with a grunt. She scrambled to her feet, looking up at the bewildered faces of Killer Bee and the Raikage.

"Please," she cried desperately. "I need to speak with Gyuuki-sama!"


	39. Welp That Happened

**So. I turned in my final paper. It was a half hour late and four pages short, but I honestly couldn't give a flying fuck what grade I get. This quarantine has fucked me up so bad, y'all. I do not function well in unstructured settings. On another note, here's a chapter. Don't hate me.**

* * *

The most dangerous men in Kumo loomed over her and Hanako immediately regretted ever making this plan. Killer Bee looked incredulous behind his sunglasses, and his brother—the flippin' _Raikage_—regarded her with open distrust.

"What is the meaning of this?" He demanded, massive arms crossed over his chest. His cloak and hat lay discarded on the floor, leaving him standing in the Kage's box shirtless and unimpressed. A muscle jumped in his jaw. He could kill her so easily, and he wouldn't even need his brother's help.

Swallowing thickly, Hanako bowed her head. "Forgive the impudence, Raikage-sama, but time is of the essence. Konoha is currently being invaded by an allied army of Oto and Suna ninja and the Hokage's life is in danger. I need to speak with Gyuuki-sama now, before I am needed elsewhere."

Oh, he did not like that. "Suna? I thought you were allies? And who the hell is Oto?"

She did _not_ have time for this, but—"Oto is a village in the Land of Rice Paddies, founded by Orochimaru. Suna _is_ our ally, but Orochimaru stole the Kazekage's face and instigated this invasion. He is currently engaged in combat with the Hokage. Please, may I speak with Gyuuki-sama?"

A looked like he might speak again, but his brother cut him off, bouncing in what she assumed was excitement, but, given her memories of him from Before, that could just be a permanent quirk.

"Yo, you know his name! More people should, for shame!"

Oh, God, the rapping. She'd forgotten about the rapping.

"Yes," she agreed. "They should." Then, before she could be side tracked any further. "Shukaku and Kurama are both in the village. Their jinchuriki are teenaged boys on opposite sides of this conflict. It is expected that at least one will lose control and enter a full transformation. Is there any way for Gryuuki-sama to prevent that?"

Both men stilled and A's scowl deepened. "How do you know all that?"

"Replying to Raikage-sama," she really didn't have time to be so formal, but pissing him off was a bad idea. "I am close friends with both jinchuriki, and a fuinjutsu mastery candidate. Shukaku's seal is weak and poorly done, leaving his host's mind unstable due to constant exposure to his chakra. He's done a good job of restraining himself, but all of this excitement coupled with Kurama's host's…exuberance…will likely prove too much for him. He'll try, though."

She hoped. Canon Gaara hadn't, but her Gaara wasn't as angsty.

Plus, her Sasuke wasn't as mean and desperate to prove himself. _And_ her Naruto had a modicum of tact. So, hopefully, things would be…more okay than they were in canon?

Then again, the universe had already proven that some things couldn't—or wouldn't—be changed. Better to send in the big guns.

"So, what?" A's expression was sour. "You want Bee to go out and wrangle _two_ untrained jinchurki into submission? While there's an invasion on?"

Well, yeah. That's literally what she said.

"Easy, bro," Bee interjected, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I wanna go!"

Oh, thank God. Some of the tension left her body. "Then, Gyuuki-sama has agreed to help?"

The tall man smiled down at her, the expression oddly akin to Guy's own brilliant grin. "Don't sweat it! These invaders will regret it!"

She returned his grin with one of her own. "Thank you!"

"Wait a second," the Raikage's raised hand was somehow more intimidating than his scowl. "What are _you _going to be doing while my brother's out teen taming?"

She let her anxiety show on her face, brows scrunching as the tell tale sounds of combat escalated around them. "I intend to aid my Kage, sir." Nothing should change if she saved Sarutobi's life, right? _Could _she save his life? Heck, she didn't even know if she could get past the barrier already sealing him in with his deranged ex-student.

Still, she had to try. The old man had made so many mistakes, but he deserved a chance to atone for them, right?

Her odds of giving him that were slim, though…

A huffed and looked like he was about leap off into the fray.

"Wait!"

Both brothers looked at her in surprise—she would, too, if she could. Luckily, it seemed her mouth was still ahead of her brain.

"I could really use some help! Orochimaru might have already summoned them, and I don't know if I'll be of any use on my own."

"Who's _them_?"

"The First and Second Hokages."

A's eyebrows rose nearly clean off his face. Beside him, Killer Bee crossed his arms.

"That's not cool," he said with a huff. "What kind of fool would use the dead like a tool?"

Hanako bowed her head again. "It is a forbidden jutsu developed by the Second Hokage, himself. It was mainly a 'what if' kind of thing, as far as I understand it—more about theory than practice—but Orochimaru's used it. Please, I don't know if my Kage can survive a fight against them."

For a moment, the only sounds came from the fighting out in the village. Then, A heaved a big, shoulder rolling sigh. He bopped a fist against his brother's chest.

"Go take care of your kohai," he said with a grin. "I'm going to fight the God of Shinobi."

Oh, Lord, what had she done? Canon was rolling in its grave and she'd put it there.

Killer Bee vanished in a display of speed, leaving her alone with his markedly less cool, more terrifying brother. He quirked a brow at her before he, too, vanished. She took a long steadying breath, knowing full well the barrier would stop him—unless it didn't, but she didn't have time to consider that possibility. She wasn't a Nara, for all she was trained by one. She couldn't think up a million moves on the spot and improvise with other people's lives on the line. She was a plan ahead kind of girl.

Not that that mattered anymore. Stupid mouth, getting ahead of brain.

Heart rate sufficiently lowered from 'arrest imminent' to 'seek medical attention immediately', she leapt after the Raikage, joining him and several battle worn Anbu beside the glistening blue barrier held up by the Sound Four.

He looked down at her over crossed arms. "I don't suppose you have a plan for this?"

She did, actually. The most obvious course of action was to take out one of Orochimaru's four lackies. The swiftest, however…

She lowered her mask, biting into her thumb with a sharp tooth. "Summoning Jutsu!"

She normally didn't announce her techniques—most people didn't, in fact—but it was only polite to let your allies what you were doing.

The smoke cleared, revealing Momiji. The little dog looked up at her mistress with determined brown eyes. Hanako turned to the looming Kage.

"This is Momiji. She can reverse summon us inside the barrier."

"Hatake," one of the Anbu hissed behind a mask she didn't recognize. "What are you doing?"

He had a point, actually. What _was_ she doing? She didn't _have_ to interfere with the fight. She knew how it would end, after all. How _everything_ would end. Why get involved?

She leveled a glare on the Anbu, daring him to stop her. "Saving my Kage!"

Because people deserved second chances.

With a puff of smoke, she, A, and Momiji had travelled all of three feet, the humming barrier now behind them. The gathered Anbu all let out exclamations of surprise, some of them demanding she take them in, too.

Not a bad idea. She and Momiji shared a glance, the dog nodding and poofing back outside, gathering allies for the fight.

And what a fight it was. Hashirama and Tobirama had already been summoned, as she suspected. It was weird seeing Sarutobi without his Kage robes—even weirder watching him fight people she knew were dead.

She shuddered.

The dead should stay dead. Forever. Preferably far away from her, somewhere she'd never ever see them.

Eugh.

The reanimated brothers didn't _look_ dead, exactly, but she knew they were, and that was enough.

"What's this?" Orochimaru hissed, his grotesque tongue hanging from his mouth. "Uninvited guests?"

Hanako shuddered again, overcome by the memory of being swallowed whole. Beside her, the Raikage cracked his knuckles, then his neck.

"This should be fun," he said with a bloodthirsty grin, ignoring the Sannin in favor of jumping between Hashirama and Sarutobi. The First Hokage's expression remained unchanged, jumping back as he narrowly avoided a punch which shattered the roof tiles he'd just been standing on. Sarutobi didn't even acknowledge his fellow Kage, instead redoubling his efforts against his dead sensei.

Hanako remained where she was near the barrier, eyes locked on Orochimaru. He smiled, the expression too manic, too wide, to mean anything good.

"Well," he began, voice practically purring he was so pleased. "This is an interesting turn of events. How kind of you to come to me, little Hanako-chan~."

Her lip curled instinctively. God, he was creepy.

"Now, now, don't make that face," he chided, tutting like a mom scolding her children. "It might get stuck like that."

Gag.

She wasn't a match for him, she knew that, but with potential back up from the Anbu outside the barrier she might be able to waylay him for a little while. She couldn't use her threads to restrain him, he'd already seen that technique and escaped it. While she'd rather not have a salivating old man staring at her as intensely as he was, it was better than him interfering with the Kage fight—which was going rather well, actually; A landed a solid hit to Hashirama's chest and she almost winced in sympathy.

She pressed a hand to her chest, channeling chakra through the fabric she'd so painstakingly woven and activating her seal. Orochimaru's lurid grin widened as her hand disappeared inside her body, the signature sting no longer registering on her pain scale. She wrapped her fingers a scroll, the prewritten seal a welcome weight in her palm.

"Truly, that is quite the fascinating technique," Orochimaru drawled, golden eyes locked on her glowing chest. "I've found no other like it—and I've looked quite diligently."

Hanako smirked, glad she'd removed her mask so he see the full brunt of her disdain. "Oh, really? Jiraiya has."

The smile fell from his face. "What?"

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" She smiled as sweetly as she could manage while fearing for her life. "He met my grandmother in Kiri."

Hashirama's Mokuton erupted on the other side of the enclosed space and A's delighted cackle lifted her spirits—just a little bit. She was a bit too busy dodging sudden onset trees to fully enjoy it. She clung to a writhing branch as it strove to contain her, her chakra perilously thin as she fought to ration it, desperately clinging to every last drop. Finally, the wood stopped sprouting and she found herself crouching sideways, looking up at Orochimaru as he hung upside down.

"In _Kiri?_" The snake summoner repeated, drawing out the word like it held the answers to all the world's questions. "And _what_, pray tell, is a child from _Kiri_ doing so far from home?"

She sneered. "This _is_ my home, you slimeball!"

"Was," he corrected with a leer. "There's not much left of it now, is there?"

She growled, her chest vibrating with the chakra enhanced sound. Orochimaru laughed.

"Oh, I'd forgotten how quaint dog summoners could be. It's been so long since I got my hands on one." Something hi his gaze changed and Hanako braced for danger. "Let's see what good those summoning traits do you, hmm?"

Sure enough, he launched himself at her, using gravity to amplify his momentum. She leapt to the side, eyes burning as his impact sent dust and splinters up into the air. She scanned the cloud of debris, desperate to catch sight of the Sannin.

"Oya? What's this?"

She froze, the breath on her face too warm to be an illusion. Her eyes were the only things that moved, turning to meet Orochimaru's golden gaze a mere two inches from her face.

How?

The expression he made was the most graphic expression of extasy she'd ever seen on a person's face. The word 'orgasmic' finally had an associated image.

"Ah, what a wonderful surprise. Perhaps Sasuke won't be necessary, after all."

What? He was still after Sasuke?

Before that thought had time to register, Orochimaru opened his too wide mouth, revealing a pair of fangs that sprang to the fore on hinges. He was so close, there was no way she could avoid him. She leaned back, activating her seal on instinct, raising her left arm between them in a futile attempt at defense.

His teeth buried themselves into her wrist, piercing right through the black sleeve of her shirt. She hissed in pain, a burning sensation already travelling up her arm.

No!

No, this couldn't be happening!

Absolutely not!

Her chakra was still swimming in her clothing and she pulled at the silk threads with a wild abandon, tightening until—!

Thud.

Her severed arm bounced off the branch below her, disappearing into the shadows of Hashirama's impromptu forest. She panted from fear and exertion, clutching the stump below her elbow in an unconscious attempt to staunch the flow of blood.

Orochimaru's golden eyes held hers, something like disappointment shining in them.

"Hmm," he said with a frown. "So the seal was what colored them. How…tame."

She stumbled back, frantically trying to regulate her chakra and maintain her grip on the tree. He chuckled at her expense.

"Really, now, did you think that would be enough? Tsk, tsk, tsk. I expected more from Konoha's precious genius."

She took another step back, narrowly avoiding a fall. She didn't dare take her eyes off him. What was she thinking, challenging a Sannin? Had she really thought knowing the future would give her some sort of advantage? Over _Orochimaru?_ All those years of standing over everyone, passing off her memories as some sort of intellect had clouded her mind. What _hubris_. What pure, disgusting arrogance. She was an eleven year old girl. What the hell could she possibly hope to accomplish in a world where people could literally destroy the moon?

Such _vanity_.

Orochimaru continued his lazy approach, ignorant of her internal strife. For every two steps he took toward her, she stumbled one back. He was getting closer, and there was nothing she could do about it. She was going to die. Again. Would she be reborn into another anime? Maybe Bleach or Yu Yu Hakusho? Somewhere she could blend into a sea of faces and never involve herself in the plot ever, ever, _ever_ again?

_Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo, santificado sea tu Nombre. Venga a nosotros tu Reino. __Hágase tu voluntad—._

Something tore through the knot of trees beside them, a body crashing into the tree they stood on. Hanako lost her footing, and she fell.


	40. Aftermath

**Voila! Y'all kept asking for Kakashi, so here you go. I'm not happy of this chapter, tbh, but it covers all the points I wanted it to.**

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Kakashi scowled at his daughter's erstwhile teammate, teeth grinding as he and the Suna jounin disappeared in a puff of white smoke. A cursory glance with his Sharingan assured him that all other opponents were down, and he leapt into the air, rushing to the roof top where his Kage was last seen fighting within a barrier erected by Oto-nin. He wasn't the only one—Guy, Genma, Kurenai, Ibiki, and Jiraiya himself were there, among others. They all lingered outside a giant tangle of trees, exchanging low words and unconsciously grouping together into identifiable team formations. The sound of fighting still filled the air, but it was distant and subdued. The invasion would be coming to an unsuccessful end any moment now, he was sure.

"Ah, Hatake-taichou! A moment, please!"

He turned to face a masked Anbu, the shorter man looking oddly nervous. "Hmm? What is it?"

Mah, he sounded as tired as he felt. He'd need to cover his eye again, soon, or he'd be down for the count.

"Sir, it's about Hanako Hatake."

Suddenly, he wasn't tired at all, a cold energy pooling in his gut and spreading through him faster than his sensei's Hiraishin. Hanako. Where was Hanako? She'd been right beside him in the stadium at the invasion's onset, but he'd lost track of her in the ensuing chaos. She wasn't among those affected by the genjutsu, and she hadn't gone with the team he'd sent after Gaara—though, given how _close_ they apparently were, that might have been a good idea. It's possible she had another objective he knew nothing about, but why would an Anbu tasked with protecting the Hokage be telling him about her?

"What about my daughter?" He asked with a smile that was as much as mask as the cloth on his face, a muscle jumping in his jaw.

The other man shrank under the weight of his gaze. "A-ah, taichou, about that…She used her summoning jutsu to bring the Raikage inside the barrier. She went with him and sent her ninken to bring some of us inside, as well, but the summoning was disrupted before we could use it. I'm worried she may have been injured after we lost sight of her in the Mokuton forest."

What.

The Anbu physically recoiled, whole body wrenching itself away from Kakashi as a wave of killing intent rolled off of him.

"Hmm? I'm sorry, I don't think I heard that right. It sounded like you said a group of Anbu just sat back and watched as an eleven year old girl entered a combat zone with a foreign Kage, but there's no way that could be right. No one could possibly be that stupid."

A hand fell on his shoulder, shifting his focus, and his rage, onto Shikaku Nara. The taller man's expression was grim, new scratches standing out on his weathered skin. "Kakashi, that's enough. We need to talk."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait," he said gruffly as he bruffed the Jounin Commander's hand off. "I need to find my kid."

"Kakashi, the Hokage is dead."

He froze mid step, heart clenching in his chest for the second time. How had they confirmed that when they were all still outside? A Hyuuga, most likely, but a formal authentication was surely in order. Not sensing his chakra and not finding a pulse were two different things.

"We need to discuss a course of action before we go in there," the Nara was saying, tone weary but eyes sharp. "The Raikage may have fought on our behalf—and I'm getting reports that his younger brother helped out, elsewhere—but we can't present ourselves as a village without a leader to a potential hostile. Most of the Clan leaders are here, so we're going to hold an emergency vote regarding an interim Kage before we go in there." He scratched the back of his head with a quite sigh. "I get it, you know. There's nowhere I'd rather be than wherever that lazy brat of mine is, but this is where I'm needed. It won't take long—emergency votes never do."

He was right, of course. He almost always was. There was a part of Kakashi that knew he should obey, that Shikaku was the highest ranking officer in the village now that the old man was gone, but none of that mattered in the face of his kid's wellbeing.

"Just throw my vote in with yours," he said over his shoulder as he turned his back on the growing crowd. "I need to find my kid."

He leapt into the tangle of living wood, the trees looping in and around each other in an oppressive display of power. Immediately, Tenzo's Mokuton came to mind. The Anbu had called it Mokuton, hadn't he? The sickening realization that others might have survived Orochimaru's experiments overtook him.

"Wait up, brat," a voice called from behind. "I'm going with you."

Kakashi didn't stop, but he did slow, just a little. Jiraiya of the Sannin leapt after him, coming to run abreast of him in little time. The older shinobi ran beside him in silence, not even commenting as Kakashi scented the air through his mask, latching on to his kid's trail and following it like the tracker nin he was.

"You know," Jiraiya said as they made their way deeper into the knot of trees. "Your kid came to see me not too long ago."

No, he actually hadn't known that. Guilt rose up in him as her words from the Exam echoed in his memory. Had that only been a few hours ago?

"She was asking for a seal mastery," the Sannin continued, oblivious to his turmoil. "I have to say, she's pretty good."

Yeah, she was, wasn't she. He smiled a bit under his mask. "So? Did you give it to her?"

The older man huffed. "Of course, not! I'm not some push over. I told her I'd give her a proper test after the Exams—and if she passed them."

"If? Excuse you, Jiraiya-sama, but my kid would've made chunin, hands down."

A single white eyebrow rose in response. "Is that so?"

"Yeah."

He smiled broadly at Kakashi, the expression revealing deepset dimples not unlike his kid's. "Hah! If only Minato were here to see this—his most ornery student, a proud papa!"

As embarrassing as that statement was, his sensei's name had him sobering. "Yeah, he'd probably get a kick out of this, huh?"

"He'd have spoiled that girl rotten," Jiraiya affirmed with a nod and a faraway look. "Just like you've probably done, am I right?"

"How cute."

Kakashi closed his mouth, turning in place to look up at the person who'd spoken where they stood in the canopy. The Raikage glared down at them, arms crossed over his bare chest. There were a myriad of scratches on his dark skin, the scent of them only just reaching Kakashi's nose.

"Yo," he said, raising a hand as he slipped into his customary slouch. "Glad to see you're alive."

The Kumo nin sneered in obvious, if subdued, contempt. "Wish I could say the same about old Sarutobi."

Something told Kakashi that was the closest the village would get in terms of condolences.

He risked a glance at Jiraiya. The taller man was grim faced as he looked up at A, but seemed otherwise unaffected by the callous reference to his teacher.

"The village will miss him," Kakashi said in reply, going for brevity over wit. "In his stead, please allow me to apologize for the situation you've been forced into. Involving you in our affairs like this was never our intention."

A smirked. "Hah. It was that little girl's idea. I wouldn't even be here if she hadn't promised a fight with the God of Shinobi, himself."

"Speaking of little girls," Jiraiya jumped in, placing a warning hand on Kakashi's back. "We happen to be looking for one. Short, brown hair, a mask like his?"

A looked at Kakashi for a long moment, then threw his head back and laughed. "So, that brat was Kakashi of the Sharingan's kid? No wonder she had such guts! Incredible."

_Was?_

"Do you know where she is, or don't you?"

A met Kakashi's glare head on, smile never fading. "Nope."

Kakashi growled lowly in his chest, his chakra amplifying the sound. Jiraiya's grip on his shoulder tightened, grounding him through the tide of rage.

"If you'll excuse us," the Sannin said airily. "We need to find her. Another group of shinobi should be coming in, after us. Our interim Kage should be with them."

The insufferable man nodded with a grin and launched himself through the trees back the way they'd come.

"Come on, let's go find your kid."

Kakashi lead the way, his nose telling him bits and pieces of a story he wasn't sure he wanted to hear. Blood. Lots of blood. He didn't want to admit it was hers, but the severed arm, still clutching a sealing scroll, forced him to accept it. He stood, stock still, as Jiraiya picked up the appendage and stored it away, unrolling the seal with an impressed expression.

"Woah, this is complicated stuff. She had a plan, at least."

That was not comforting.

He pulled his mask down and scented the air again, ignoring Jiraiya's wide eyed assessment of his face. "This way."

His kid was laying on her stomach, wrapped around a thick branch just ten or so feet above the roof they stood on. Her hitai ate was missing and her brown hair hung over her face in wild ringlets made solid by sweat and blood. Red liquid pooled beneath her, the _plink plink plink_ of dripping blood almost enough to drive Kakashi mad. It was a clean injury, at least, but that was the only silver lining he could find.

Gently, ever so gently, he rolled her over. Her face was bruised, and her clothes stained, but as far as he could tell she had only the one wound. She didn't react when he pulled her into his arms and stood, her bare face pale and drawn. How long had she been down there? Why had she been there at all? He knew she was smarter than that, so why?

"Kakashi," Jiraiya's dark eyes were sad. "Get her out of here. I need to find the old man."

He didn't need to be told twice. Careful of the child in his arms, he leapt through the forest again, his urgency offset by her injuries. Was the hospital still standing? If it was, would her case even register as an emergency? He had no idea what had gone on outside the arena, but it couldn't have been good if Killer Bee had really involved himself.

The sound of people caught his attention and he made to avoid them. He didn't have any time to waste.

"Kakashi!"

Damnit.

He let himself be pulled to a stop by Hana Inuzuka, her ninken greeting him with soft chuffs and yips. She looked up at him with a worried scowl which only deepened when she caught sight of Hanako's arm. Singular.

"Well, shit," she said bluntly. "I was supposed to make you come with, but I'm not sure I want to. That's a serious injury."

Yeah. He knew that. The green glow of healing chakra settled his nerves a bit, her hands wrapping around the stump below his kid's elbow gently.

She had the grace to look apologetic. "Look, Kakashi, I hate to do this to you, you know I do, but I think it might be for the best if you give her to me. I'm a medic, so she'll be fine with me, and you're…" She trailed off, gaze lowered.

"I'm what?"

She huffed. "You're the interim Kage. It was decided in a vote, like, two seconds ago. Nara-sama said you'd tied your vote to his."

Ah. So that's how it was. Hmm.

"Mah," he said with patently false cheer. "Just like a Nara to hand of the job, like that."

Hana placed a glowing hand on his kid's face, healing the bruises before his eyes. "That's what ma said."

Ah, yes. Tsume. She'd probably give him hell about this, once everything died down.

Damn you, Shikaku.

"Fine," he spat. "Take her to the hospital and don't let her out of your sight. She'll crawl through the vents if she thinks it's an option."

She smirked up at him. "Sounds like she takes after you."

Yeah. A little too much.


	41. Llorona

**Guys! Someone made fanart of Hanako! It's on AO3 in the work titled _Shinobi Isekai: Artwork_ or on my tumblr at exhausted-dog-mom. Please go check it out, it's amazing!**

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Hanako was alive, that much was obvious.

The steady beeping of a heart monitor chipped away at the haze of unconsciousness that blanketed her mind, slowly dragging her out of the darkness. Her face was bare, cool air foreign on her skin. It smelled sterile, the harsh chemicals burning her nose as she grew ever more aware. She crinkled her nose and shifted—!

She felt like a living bruise.

Her back hurt. Her thighs hurt. Her eyes felt like someone had embalmed them in chlorine and she scrunched them with a groan.

"Hana!"

There was the recognizable sound of a chair scraping against the floor only to clatter as it fell. Her right hand was seized in a deathgrip, held tightly between two warm, calloused, familiar hands which shook just like their attached voice.

"Nii-chan?"

She opened her eyes, hissing against the harsh white light. Sasuke slowly came into focus, his face free of the mask and contorted into an expression of worry, thick dark brows furrowed and pale lips thinned and bruised by worrying teeth.

He pressed his forehead against their clasped hands, taking deep, shuddering breaths. She watched his narrow shoulders rise and fall where he kneeled beside her bed. "Hana."

He said her name like a prayer, almost to quiet to hear but loud enough to echo in her soul. It was laden with meaning she wasn't sure she fully understood, but she tried to squeeze his hand, corners of her mouth quirking upward in what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Nii-chan. Hi."

He laughed, breathy and wet, turning watery black eyes on her. "Hi? That's all you have to say?"

Her smile grew of its own accord before fading as her mind began to catch up with her mouth. "What happened? Why are we in the hospital?"

Sasuke's already pale face went as white as a sheet and he looked sharply away from her. His grip on her hand tightened almost painfully, the contact grounding her floaty mind.

"Sasuke," panic began to rise inside her, the heart monitor broadcasting her emotions for the world to hear. "Are you ok? Did something happen?"

The Look™ he shot her made her feel all kinds of stupid and loved at the same time. "Are you serious? I'm not the one strapped to a bed."

Ah. He wasn't, was he? She looked down at the peak in the sheets where her toes were, wiggling them with a concentrated effort.

"The Hokage!" She turned back to him quickly, her brain protesting by throbbing in time with her heart monitor. "Sasuke, the Hokage, is he—?"

He shook his head, eyes downcast. "I'm sorry, Hana. Orochimaru killed him."

Hanako's head fell back into the flat hospital pillow, mind blessedly blank. "After everything I did…Some things can't be changed." She turned to look at Sasuke, taking in the bandages peaking out from beneath his high Uchiha collar. "What happened?"

He didn't look like he wanted to answer that, going visibly green. "I-I'm not sure where to start."

"The beginning is usually a good place."

He huffed at her, a heatless glare livening up his expression. "Shut up. I'm thinking."

"I'll come back tomorrow, then."

He actually looked a little angry, at that. "Are you supposed to be talking this much? The doctor said you'd probably go right back to sleep."

"Oh, so they gave me the good shit. Sweet."

It certainly explained why her brain felt like it was wading through pudding. She watched, bemused, as Sasuke struggled to rein in his laughter. It was still trying to break free and ruin his angsty reputation when he spoke.

"Naruto, Sakura, and I are all alright. Teams Eight and Ten, are, too. Those kids from Suna are in custody, though; that rapping guy from Kumo helped bring them in. He and Naruto keep visiting your redhead friend, but no one really knows what they're talking about—or, they do and they aren't telling me." He grumbled that last bit with a sour expression. "The Raikage is still here, for some reason, and it's making everyone nervous. None of their genin got hurt, so everyone's really suspicious about it."

Huh. Did Gaara not transform?

Sasuke stiffened, dark eyes honing in on her. "H-how did you know about that?"

…Did she say that out loud?

He clenched his jaw. "Yes."

Well, damn.

"Did no one explain it to you?" She asked in lieu of an answer. "With three of them in the village, I figured you, of all people, would be told."

He cocked his head, genuinely confused. "What do you mean? Wasn't it just a freaky transformation jutsu?"

_That's _what they were going with? Which idiot came up with that?

"Now, now, chibi-chan, there's no need to be rude."

Both children tensed—though for different reasons—as Jiraiya spoke. He was leaning against the doorframe, filling it to the brim. Arms crossed and pale brows furrowed, he looked the picture of a cross grandparent.

"Uchiha-kun, I'm pretty sure you were supposed to tell someone when she woke up, or did I dream your Kage's lecture?"

Kage? There was a new one already? How long had she been asleep? Was Tsunade already in the village?

Questions whirled in her mind even as she struggled to keep her thoughts from pouring out her mouth. She kept her eyes fixed on Jiraiya's chest, not wanting to seem rude but not quite ready to engage in conversation.

"Go on, then. He'll want to hear it from you, and I need to talk to the kid."

Sasuke squeezed her hand one last time before standing, stomping past the Toad Sage with a Glare®. The older man simply shooed him with a swish of his hand, making a face at Sasuke's back as he slid the door to Hanako's room closed.

All levity fled his expression and Hanako swallowed nervously as he trained serious dark eyes on her. This was who he was underneath that goofy mask of his: Konoha's spy master, Sannin, 1/3 of a legendary team and the only one who hadn't ditched his village or his morals.

Such as they were.

He crossed the room, picking up the chair Sasuke had knocked over and taking a seat, resting his elbows on splayed knees.

It must he hard being so tall.

He snorted. "I see they've got you on the good shit."

She smiled at him. "Yeah."

He smiled a bit in response, do doubt amused by her loopy expression. "That's good, it'll make my job easier."

Hm?

"Wanna tell me why your dad thinks your mom's name was Ochako?"

Her heart monitor stalled. Or it should have. It certainly felt like her heart stopped, a cold, dead lump taking its place in her chest. She looked up at the Sannin in horror, her fear likely plain as the nose on her face. He watched her, face like stone as she floundered, sinking sinking sinking into a pit of despair that threatened to swallow her.

Had he told Kakashi? Did he know? Was her dad now not her dad? Had the tenuous trust they'd built over the last six years shattered?

Had she lost the protection of the Hatake Clan? Was she now just a wayward orphan of suspect origins with access to too many secrets?

Was she in danger?

Tears welled up in her eyes, falling over her face to soak the pillow as she looked imploringly up at Jiraiya.

"Please, she croaked. "Don't give me to Danzo."

His face twisted in surprise and she wept, freely and openly. The sorrow that always felt like it was a single raindrop away from drowning her had risen above the fill line, overflowing through her system as her body ached with the force of her sobs.

She was a failure. What was she thinking, scheming against Orochimaru? Against an actual genius? Pretending to be some kind of clan princess, making plans to cement that status and maneuvering people to suit it when she wasn't even from Konoha?

She wasn't even Hanako. Not even _Yachiru_.

Bethany raised her hands to her face to hide it, missing the comfort of the mask. It wasn't her face, it wasn't her body, it wasn't her world! Why the hell had she tried to change it like it was?

One fist rubbed at her eyes and the other—

She opened her eyes, staring at the empty air where she could have sworn her hand was. She raised her arm, the straight edged stump claiming her attention.

What.

She twisted her arm, tears still falling but with less fanfare as she stared open mouthed at her injury. How had she not noticed this? She'd moved her body like it was whole, completely unprepared for the revelation that it wasn't. She waggled nonexistent fingers, the tendons in her arm answering her call without effect. She could still _feel_ them moving, though, and she sat up abrubtly, Jiraiya reaching out with large hands to stop her.

She reached for her chakra, moving it in the old familiar way. Nothing. No blue glow, no sting of sensitive skin, nothing.

Vaguely she was aware of her heart monitor beeping, a nurse throwing the door open and yelling at Jiraiya who yelled back and got kicked out, firm, no nonsense touches on her face and neck, and low, urgent voices.

She moved her chakra. And moved it and moved it and moved it.

Through it all, Bethany cried.


	42. Doctor-Patient Confidentiality

**This is mostly exposition, but I hope y'all like it! Also, more fanart has been made! Find it on my tumblr at exhausted-dog-mom or on AO3 in the work titled _Shinobi Isekai!: Artwork._**

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Kakashi peered over steepled fingers at Jiraiya, the Great Toad Sage, last loyal Sannin, a growl growing in his chest as he regarded the older man with open anger and disdain. He was leaning over the top of the Hokage's desk, the dark wood creaking under the weight of his fury. To one side, Inoichi Yamanaka stood stoic, hands clasped behind his back as he, too, glared at the pale author.

"Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi said lowly, taking great pleasure in watching him try and fail to hold his one-eyed gaze. "Want to tell me why two minutes in your presence sent my kid into a full blown panic attack? I could have sworn you said you were only going to ask her, and I quote, 'a few harmless questions'." Kakashi had adopted a smile out of habit, but he dropped it then. "Explain."

The taller man was actually sweating, if his nose was to be believed, and not for the first time he reveled in the power his borrowed chair gave him. He still hated sitting in it, but it was nice being the one causing the discomfort for a change.

"I was going to bring this up after the exams," Jiraiya said, reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck with a grimace.

"The exams are over."

He scowled at Kakashi. "Don't interrupt, you brat." His anger drained out of him along with the color from his face. "Oh, I am too old for this."

With that, he plopped a manilla folder down onto the desk between them. Kakashi flipped it open, eye skimming over the contents. "What am I looking at?"

"A paternity test—two actually. One for the chibi-chan and one for her mother."

Kakashi readback over the list of numbers, their meaning still escaping him. "And? I hope you're not trying to prove she isn't mine, Jiraiya-sama."

He scoffed. "No, brat, she's mine."

What.

He and Inoichi exchanged wide eyed looks of incredulity before turning them onto the Sannin who crossed his arms and huffed.

"Her mother was, anyway. I had no idea until chibi-chan approached me about a mastery in fuuinjutsu. She looks almost exactly like an old…liaison of mine, so I asked her about it. She had no idea what I was talking about, but she let slip that her mother's name was Rin."

_That_ set a ping off in Kakashi's heart. He cocked his head in confusion, burying the grief that name always summoned. "That can't be right. She told everyone her mother's name was Ochako when she was first accepted into the village."

Jiraiya's expression soured further. "I know. That's what I asked her about, when she—you know." He waved his hand around in the air wildly. "That isn't the point, though! That kid," he said over Inoichi's protests that it _was_ the point, thank you very much. "Is from Kiri."

Kakashi leaned back in Sarutobi's chair. "So?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened almost comically. "What do you mean, 'so'? The kid lied about that, what else could she be hiding?"

Inoichi sighed long and hard, pinching the bridge of his nose in an effort to rein in his temper. "Jiraiya-sama, how much do you actually know about Hanako-chan? Because," he continued, ignoring Jiraiya's snide _more than you apparently_ with a tranquility Kakashi admired. "I can tell you now that your 'harmless question' definitely did more harm than you were expecting." He looked to Kakashi for permission, which he gave with a wave of his hand. "Hanako Hatake suffers from Imposter Syndrome, due in no small part to the lies we already knew she was telling."

"You see, Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi interjected, a smile on his face if not in his voice. "Hanako never made any claims to know where she was from. She had a convenient head injury to thank for any blanks in her story, but a totally blank slate would have raised more questions than not. The answers she did give were suspect and unverifiable, with a few of them proving inconsistent. All of this laid the groundwork for a plausible spy. The Hokage," he did not stumble on that title, no he didn't. "Gave her into my care in the hopes that either I or my dogs could ferret out her true loyalties."

"A fact she is _not _to learn under _any circumstances_," the threat was heavily implied, and Jiraiya nodded rapidly in order to dispel Inoichi's glare. "When it became clear that she was immune to my clan's mind walking techniques, the Lord Third saw fit to enroll her in grief counselling with me—both to help her overcome the trauma of her mother's death and to keep an eye on a potential threat. As the years went by, it became obvious that she was either lying or keeping some major secret and allowing that to interfere with her social life here in the village. I had my daughter reach out to her, but Hanako is much more private than she lets on. Like a certain someone, she wears more than just the mask on her face."

Kakashi raised his hands in surrender. "It's not my fault! She came like that!"

Inoichi snorted. "She did, and it's only gotten worse. The longer she goes without telling someone, the more she feels everything she has can and will be taken from her one day. Jiraiya-sama, I'm afraid you unwittingly hit upon a very sensitive subject."

To his credit, the Sannin did look a little sheepish. "Maybe I should have read her entire file before confronting her about it, huh?"

Kakashi sighed, propping his head up in a display of exasperation. Was this how Sarutobi felt when he pulled the same stunt? He actually felt a little guilty. Too bad it was too late to apologize.

He spent a good half minute beating his emotions back into their box before picking up the discarded paternity tests.

"So, do I offer congratulations or condolences?"

Jiraiya's expression immediately sobered. "Ah, well, it's not like I knew the girl and I doubt chibi-chan would be impressed with an old man like me. Especially after I…"

Inoichi disagreed. "Hanako needs more grounded truths upon which to base her identity, Jiraiya-sama. Something others can corroborate. Most of her sense of self comes from her seal and her summoning contract—these are things that no one can take from her, after all, and are wholly hers."

It stung a bit that he wasn't included, but Kakashi knew better than to argue with Inoichi. If his kiddo needed a perverted grandpa, then so be it. Maybe he'd get a signed issue of Icha Icha, once the village was back in working order.

Jiraiya winced bodily. "Ah, about that. The seal seems to be…nonfunctional at the moment. Her injury disrupted the array and she might have…sent the ward into…the tiniest of panics when she tried to activate it."

Of course, she had. She wouldn't be a Hatake if she hadn't.

He really should not be proud of that.

Inoichi did not look happy. "Why was that not mentioned in any of the reports? That is important information!"

"Mah," Kakashi interjected. "Not everyone knows what a functioning seal looks like, Inoichi-san, let alone Hanako's." He stood, his back creaking in seven different ways, all of them reminding him of just how out of shape he was. S Rank nin his ass. "If you don't mind, I'd like to see my kid before visiting hours are over."

"Before you do, Hokage-sama," eugh, his body and soul recoiled from the title in perfect synergy. "Do you want to update Hanako-chan's file to include Jiraiya-sama?"

Well, damn, Inoichi, just dash his hopes and dreams across the rocks why don't you?

He sank back into the chair with a long, weary sigh, his head hitting the desk with a _thunk_. "I'm never going to see her again, am I?"

"Now, now," Inoichi said with a laugh. "It won't be that bad."

Not that bad? _Not that bad?_

Jiraiya of the Sannin, Toad Sage, one of maybe five Senju left in existence—albeit a branch member with no political clout—was going to be added to his kid's paperwork. Which meant she had to be added to his. Which meant notifying the Shinobi Council. Which meant sticking her back in the spotlight when she'd never really left it. Which meant more paperwork.

He glared at the Sannin, pouring every ounce of hatred into his gaze. "I hate you."

Jiraiya raised his hands up between them placatingly. "Woah, there, brat, not so fast. You need the clan head's permission to add her to my files, you know."

Oh, yeah. Tsunade.

Kakashi shuddered. His memories of the Senju Princess were vague, but he distinctly remembered Jiraiya getting punted through several walls. At once.

"Look," Jiraiya began. "I was going to go looking for her anyway. There are injuries here that no one else can heal," mini-Guy came to mind. "And the promise of another Senju—especially one related to me—will probably bring be enough to bring her back. Besides," his smile became a little too knowing for Kakashi's tastes. "I'm sure you'd rather not be our Fifth Hokage, am I right?'

Yes. Yes, he was. Gods, but he hated being in charge.


	43. That Man

**No reviews, huh? I see how it is. It's not like I rely on those for my self esteem or anything. T_T**

**lol, jk, it's fine. I'm updating a little quick. I relied on the manga pretty heavily to write this one, so I feel like I regurgitated it in places. Please tell me how you think I did characterizing Sasuke. He's a difficult character to write.**

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Sasuke ran through the village, heart pounding in tandem with the rhythm of his feet on the dusty ground. He dodged and weaved through piles of debris and the shinobi clearing them, huffing and puffing with more than just exertion. His mind was blindingly numb. His own heartbeat was the only thing he heard as he rushed into the hospital, flying up three flights of stairs in record time. Reaching out, he threw a door open and bent double, hands braced on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. On her bed, Hanako stared at him, dark eyes void of light. She'd been like that for several days, now, so painfully subdued and lifeless. That old man did something to her, he just knew it! She was fine when he left!

He didn't have time to worry about that right now, though.

"That man," he panted, voice hoarse. "_That man_ is here."

Her expression didn't change and for a horrifying moment he feared she wouldn't react at all, that her promise to stand with him against _that man_, just like she had on _that_ _day, _would amount to nothing. Then, her eyes widened and she pushed herself up into a sitting position, leaning over the rail on the side of her hospital bed. Her face was haggard and pale, the skin under her eyes flaming red, but her expression—an expression!—was sincerely concerned.

"He's what?"

Her voice was as small as she was, tone breathy and shaking with an emotion he knew but couldn't name.

"He's here," Sasuke repeated, the words like ash on his tongue. "And he's after Naruto!"

Her face twisted in horror and he just knew she knew why _that man_ had gone after Naruto instead of him. The small glimpse of the monstrous strength his teammate called upon in his fight against Gaara came to mind and he seethed.

Hanako was struggling with the restraints on her legs, her one hand—seeing the flat stump was just as jarring as the first time—fumbling with the buckles and straps. He rushed over to her side to help, but she flapped her hand at him.

"I need clothes," she said sternly and he was so glad to hear her speak he didn't protest the command.

He ran back out of the hospital, taking to the rooftops in his haste as he sped across the village. The Hatake Clan Compound was on the other side of the village, far from the main road and the hospital. Going there would waste valuable time. He changed course midair, landing with a roll in a courtyard he never thought he'd revisit—at least, not for many years, yet.

The numbness summoned by _his_ name settled on his mind like a blanket as he rummaged through long abandoned boxes, pulling out a high collared shirt with the uchiwa emblazoned on the back.

It was fine, right? She had a Sharingan, anyway, and he was Clan Head, so no one could argue with him.

Hanako was standing beside her bed, hands fisting in her hospital gown. She raised one straight brow at the clothes he handed her before gesturing for him to turn around. She dressed quickly, tugging on his sleeve. He turned, taking in the sight of her in his clan's traditional clothing. It was a little out of style, and a bit too big around her shoulders, but the black shirt and white shorts ensemble brought back memories of his academy days—for her, too, if the wry smile on her unmasked face was anything to go by. He knelt down and helped her into a pair of black sandals, ignoring the way her toes scrunched in the unfamiliar footwear. Finally ready, she reached over and pulled out the IV from her injured arm, immediately applying pressure to the vein to stop the bleeding. Several other wires were also shed, and they fled the room to the sound of a flatlining heart monitor.

Hanako came up beside him as they leapt across the rooftops. "Naruto went to Tanzaku-gai! We should head straight there and try to cut them off!"

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement and lead the way into the forest, leaving the village behind. Tanzaku-gai was one of amny civilian resort towns in the land of fire, and every academy graduate was required to memorize the locations of those within a week's travel from Konoha. With any luck, they'd reach the town in under an hour at their full speed. Soon, he'd be face to face with _that man_. He wasn't sure what he'd do when he confronted him, but he was glad to know Hanako was with him, again. This time…this time he wouldn't freeze! He was past that! He'd grown since _that night_ and he'd have his revenge!

They touched down on a roof just within the town walls and Hanako put her nose to the air, looking for Naruto's scent. She jerked her head.

"This way."

He followed her lead, gut roiling with anticipation. And worry.

If _that man_ found Naruto before they did, would the dobe survive the encounter? Sure, he had that secret power everyone except Sasuke seemed to know about, but it seemed to be a last resort sort of thing, showing itself only in the most dire of circumstances. What if it didn't register _that man_ as a threat until it was too late? What if the Sharingan took hold before he could call on it? What if—?

Hanako reached out with her arm and stopped him in his tracks. "We're here." She pointed at a window. "Naruto's in there. We should grab him and go before _he_ shows up. Jiraiya-sama is probably nearby, so we can go to him for help."

Wait. "What about _him_? We're not—we can't just leave _him_ alone!"

The deadpan expression she gave him was so reminiscent of Kakashi he almost saw double.

"You're right, Sasuke," she drawled. "What was I thinking? Of course, we—a pair of genin with three hands between us—should take on an A Rank missing nin. That's going to end so well for us, I can tell."

Sasuke bristled at her tone. "If you weren't going to fight him then why did you come?"

"Are you insane?" Her expression made it clear she certainly thought he was. "I came to help you save Naruto! Isn't that why you're here?"

Partially. He was concerned, sure, but who knew when his next chance to kill _that man_ would come? He had to seize the opportunity while it lasted.

Hanako gestured wildly with her left arm, clearly forgetting it had no hand. "I don't have time to argue with you, right now, so go die on your brother's sword if you're really that desperate. Naruto has no idea what's coming for him."

She leapt down and landed on the windowsill, leaving Sasuke to scramble in after her.

"Eh? Hana-chan? And teme?! What are you doing here?"

Seeing the dobe's face released a tension Sasuke hadn't realized he was carrying. He was fine. Still stupid, still smiling, still alive. Fine. Sasuke let himself breathe a little easier, knowing that.

Hanako didn't waste any time, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto, I need you to summon a toad. There are people after you and Jiraiya-sama needs to know.'

"Eh? How do you know about the toads, Hana-chan? I never told you I could summon them!"

Indeed. Hanako had known about Gaara's terrifying transformation, even though he'd been ordered not to tell her. Another thing to ask about once _that man_ was dealt with.

"Do as she says, dobe," he demanded, scowling reflexively as the blond aimed a sour look his way. "We don't have time for questions."

Naruto grumbled but obeyed, summoning a small orange toad in a sleeveless blue haori.

"Ha? What'd'ya summon me for, brat?"

Naruto waved at Hanako. "Hana-chan told me to!"

"Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki are after Naruto," she said quickly, words running together. "We are evacuating him for his own safety. Please tell Jiraiya-sama."

The scowling amphibian eyes her arm openly. "Are you sure you should be out and about, chibi? That looks serious."

"Go!"

The toad disappeared into a puff of smoke and Hanako turned angry eyes onto Naruto. "You're coming with us. No questions. Move!"

Sasuke almost laughed when Naruto jumped to attention but found himself doing the same when she looked at him. He'd never seen that look in her eyes before, so hard and demanding. The unflappable calm she was so known for nowhere to be found. She looked…young. Afraid. Uncertain. Not words he would have ever used to describe her before the exams.

That old man. What had he done to her?

He was around, right? That Jiraiya guy? Maybe he'd get some answers out of him.

The three genin leapt across the rooftops, the hotel quickly vanishing behind them as they fled the scene.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Naruto demanded breathlessly. "Why are we running?"

Sasuke ground his teeth as Hanako answered.

"Itachi Uchiha and his partner are coming after you. Jiraiya-sama can handle them, but it'll be better if we're out of his way."

"Uchiha? You mean like Sasuke?"

Hanako reached out and smacked the dobe, hard. "Naruto!"

The dobe's expressions were always a treat to watch, but Sasuke took no pleasure in the rapid fire transition from shock to recognition to contrition.

"_That_ Itachi Uchiha? What does he want from me? Wouldn't he be after Sasuke?"

His sentiments exactly. He drifted closer to his friends as Hanako made to answer when she suddenly grabbed a fistful of Naruto's orange jumpsuit and all but threw him into Sasuke. The boys tumbled head over heels with loud groans, roof tiles cracking beneath their combined weight. Sasuke pushed up on Naruto's chest, the dobe slow as usual as he scrambled to his feet. When they finally detangled themselves, they saw Hanako standing, one hand raised in half a Tiger sign, between them and two figures in black cloaks covered in red clouds.

Sasuke's gaze focused on the shorter one, his dark hair, pale skin, and tired eyes all so horrifyingly familiar. _That man_ wasn't looking at him, though, Sharingan focused on Hanako's severed limb.

"Who did that to you?"

Hanako snorted, shifting her weight. "Orochimaru. He's an old buddy of yours, right? You Akatsuki types don't really have standards, do you?"

The tall one—was he even human?—barked a harsh laugh at that. "That's twice now someone's called us out, today. Leader won't be happy to hear that."

A hand fell onto Sasuke's shoulder and he followed it to Naruto's uncharacteristically grim expression. The dobe shook his head and Sasuke realized he was primed to run, unconsciously ready to attack _that man._

_He_ spoke again, voice low and smooth as if he wasn't a kinslayer. "Orochimaru is no longer affiliated with the Akatsuki."

"I know," she replied, surprising everyone. "I imagine it would be hard to work with someone so interested in taking the Sharingan for himself, huh?"

What.

No one told Sasuke about that. A chill went through him as he realized just how lucky she was to lose just her arm.

Eye-thief was still a category of criminal in Konoha for a reason. With two powerful dojutsu clans calling it home, steps were taken early on to punish anyone who dared conspire against them.

"Don't worry," Hanako was saying. "It seems he's more interested in mine than Sasuke's, right now."

He watched as _that man_'s eyes flew from her missing hand to her face and widened, likely facing her Sharingan for himself.

Wait. How did she…no one told her about the Sharingan, right? He hadn't, and Kakashi probably hadn't, either, so how?

How did she know so much when nobody ever told her anything?

_That man's_ partner threw his head back and laughed. "What the hell? Looks like you missed a few in your little purge, Itachi. Not that it matters," he hefted his giant weapon onto his shoulder. "We'll just finish the job, here."

Naruto's fingers dug into Sasuke's shoulder and he almost shrugged him off before remembering that Naruto was their target. Where was that old man? Did that toad skip out on them?

"Naruto, Sasuke!" They both looked to Hanako, surprised by the command in her voice. "That sword eats chakra! Don't let it touch you. Keep your eyes on Itachi's feet if you have to fight him, it's the only way to avoid the Tsukiyomi."

"The wha—?"

"His Sharingan, Naruto! He has the Mangekyou Sharingan! Please, just listen to me!"

Her voice cracked with emotion and both boys stood frozen in the face of it. Something was seriously wrong with her, there was no doubt about it. Four years of living in the room across from hers and he'd never even heard a _rumor_ about her losing her temper.

"You're pretty well informed for a crippled brat," the big, sharklike one drawled with a sharp toothed smile. "Should I be insulted you left me out?"

"Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, also called the No Tailed Beast on account of your monstrous chakra reserves—they're also why you're able to wield Samehada so easily."

Kisame's grin faded into a hard smile. "Well, then. You really do know your stuff. And, I've gotta say," his expression became predatory. "That's a nice set of teeth you've got there."

Both cloaked figures exploded into motion, launching themselves across the rooftop. With Sharingan clarity, Sasuke watched as Hanako leapt backward, her one hand moving in hand signs not unlike that rogue Hunter Nin from their mission in Waves. When had she had the time to learn that? Had she already known how to do it, before losing her hand? Why?

Water gushed from her open mouth, pushing her back and their attackers back. Sasuke immediately began channeling chakra into his hand, the shrill chirping of the Chidori hurting his ears. They were wet, so the raiton jutsu would be extra effective. As he looked at _that man_, the memory of his parents' corpses, lying in their own blood, eyes open and unseeing, the cloying scent of blood clawing its way up out of his memories and threatening to overtake him. Now, as then, Hanako stood between them, her narrow back toward Sasuke as she faced his demon for him.

She didn't have to do that, anymore.

With a feral yell, Sasuke surged forward, Chidori primed and ready, Sharingan locked on _his_ feet. All he had to do was make contact. _His_ wet clothing and the electric current would do the rest. Just had to make contact.

"Teme!"

Something threw him off course, sending him flying off to one side and rolling to a stop on the roof of another building. Belatedly, he felt the pain in his ribs—broken—and he gasped for air. He felt like a fish out of water, no chakra answering his call as he tried vainly to stand.

He looked up at Kisame, the shark man grinning down at him as he raised his chakra eating sword with one hand. "So long, little bro."

White smoke filled Sasuke's field of vision, fading to reveal a giant, man sized toad blocking Kisame's blade.

"Brats, get over here," that awful old man shouted as he adjusted his grip on an unconscious woman slung over his shoulder. He held out an open hand and yelled. "You fools actually thought that I, Jiraiya, the epitome of manliness, would fall to feminine wiles? Women throw themselves at my feet with just a smile!"

…

What.

"Shut up, Pervy Sage! All that lady had to do was wink at you and you left me behind to be taken by these weirdos! If Hana-chan and Sasuke hadn't shown up they would've had me!"

The taller Konoha nin smacked the back of Naruto's head with a fierce scowl. "What did I say about calling me that?"

Gods. He was a giant, old Naruto.

"Are you alright?" Hanako's hand was gentle as she helped him to his feet. "We should get you to a hospital. Chakra exhaustion can be deadly."

He strained in her grip, trying to catch a glimpse of _him_. Everyone's eyes were on Jiraiya, so if he could just—!

His chakra coils protested vehemently and he swayed on his feet, nearly dragging Hanako down with him. She steadied him with her left arm, the blunted limb propping him up with some difficulty.

"Sasuke, calm down," she whispered for his ears only. "I know it's frustrating, but he's still too strong—especially with Kisame watching his back. We saved Naruto, let's leave it at that."

No! He couldn't—he wouldn't—how could he just—?

He deflated, accepting the futility of his situation with a bitter scowl. "Fine."

Darkness overtook him, the sound of Hanako's voice following him into chakra depleted sleep.


	44. Unplanned

**Just to clarify, Jiraiya is a Senju. Because I said so. :D This story is so AU anyway, may as well go all the way!**

**Also! Hanako's theme song is "I Was Here" by Beyonce. Go listen to it if you haven't before!**

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Jiraiya looked down at his rapidly expanding collection of genin where they sat in a circle on the floor of the hotel room he'd managed to snag after some gratuitous flirting. The Uchiha was groggy but awake, leaning on Naruto who supported his friend with an easy smile. The Hatake looked…less than pleased to say the least, having tried and failed to cross her arms several times, her scowl deepening with each attempt. It was a far cry from the vapidly polite kid he'd met during the exams and a small part of him felt guilty for any part he may have played in that, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't a relief to finally see past the patently fake smile she and her father shared. They were far too alike for genetic strangers.

Nurture: 1 Nature: 0

"Alright, you two," he said with a weary sigh. "You two need to hightail it back to the Village, now. I don't have time to take care of more than one brat."

The Uchiha bristled, raising what had to be a pounding head to glare at Jiraiya. "No. We're staying with Naruto."

The girl—_his _girl, he remembered with a shudder—turned black eyes on the boys, sour expression dredging up memories of a woman he almost wished he'd forgotten.

"Before we do anything," she said, straight brows furrowed in an echo of her grandmother's frown. "You two are going to have a long, in depth conversation about tenants who pay rent in chakra and the Mangekyou Sharingan. Naruto, I suggest you go first."

Minato's clone watched with wide, fear filled eyes as she got to her feet. "Y-you know?"

A good question. How had a kid born outside the village learned about Naruto's not so little secret? There was no way Kakashi would have told her. Being a genius could only excuse so much—.

Jiraiya forced his train of thought to stop in its tracks before he got ahead of himself. Again. There were plenty of reasons for her to know about the Kyuubi, most of them perfectly justifiable. Probably.

"That's an S Class secret, chibi-chan," he said seriously.

"One that Sasuke needs to know," she replied just as grimly. "Just like Naruto needs to know about the Sharingan. This incident alone has proved that, but they're teammates, so this information would have needed to be shared eventually."

He disagreed, but one look at the considering look on Naruto's face and he knew he'd lose that fight.

She walked up to him, craning her slender neck to stare up at him with too black eyes rimmed in red. He really didn't want to think about what that meant. "May I borrow your sealing kit? Mine's—." She cut herself off, her right hand reflexively closing into a fist at her side.

Ah. Right. Her seal was broken.

He pulled a roll of paper, brushes and an ink stone from his thigh pouch, making a show of grumbling even as he watched with hawklike vigilance as she began working on a silencing seal. It was simple, more of a 'don't listen' seal than a true silencer, but it was well done and would serve its purpose. Most ninja were trained to spot silencing seals, anyway, so her choice made a lot of sense given their recent run in.

She placed the seal onto the floor with a brief flare of chakra to activate it and then stood. "We'll be outside if you need us."

"B-but, Hana-chan! What if those guys come back?"

"Shut up, dobe," the Uchiha said with a tired groan. "They're not leaving, we just need to talk about this by ourselves."

He looked to the girl for confirmation and looked all too smug when she nodded at him. Then, she turned those eyes on Jiraiya.

"Come on, then. Let's give them some privacy."

"I don't see why they couldn't have that conversation with us there," he said once they'd shut the door behind them.

She curled her lip at him, bearing her Hatake fangs in an expression that summoned images of _Sakumo_ of all people. "Naruto gets self conscious around people he thinks know more than him. He won't ask any questions if we're in there."

Jiraiya hummed his understanding and filed that information away for later. "And I suppose you have a reason for setting this up now, instead of waiting until you were back in the village."

_Of course, I do, you idiot_, her face all but shouted at him_. How stupid can you be?_

"Sasuke," she said aloud. "Is Itachi's little brother."

He huffed in amusement. "Oh, really? I had no idea—!"

She...she'd hit him. Legitimately smacked him, her good hand striking his thigh in what looked like an automatic reflex.

"He's his brother,"she continued as if she hadn't just _smacked a Sannin._ "So, he's obviously gonna be curious why he's after Naruto instead of him. He's already a little resentful because Naruto is progressing so much faster than he is. It's better if he understands why now before that can fester, and its best for Naruto to be the one to tell him, for obvious reasons."

Alright, sure. That was some pretty sound reasoning. He could distinctly remember his own bitterness over Orochimaru's skill, though it had morphed into a general sense of discontent over the years. If she thought a heart to heart could nip something like that in the bud, though, she was more naïve than he'd expected.

Neither of them spoke and Jiraiya felt the urge to fill the silence growing within him.

Fill it with what though? Oh, by the way, I'm your grandfather? Hey, wanna hear some—totally child appropriate—stories about Ume?

Finally, he settled on: "So, I see your clan markings are coming in."

The wildly incredulous look the gave him told him that was the exact _wrong _thing to say.

"What are you talking about?"

Hoo, boy, how to fix this? He was already on Kakashi's kill list and he did _not_ want to be made a priority.

"How old are you, chibi-chan?"

"Eleven, why?"

Damn. His started coming at the same age.

He sighed explosively before sinking into a squat, his hands pressed against his face. No time like the present. Come on, Jiraiya, rip off the bandage!

"Listen, chibi, I've got something to tell you and you're probably not going to like it."

Her expression immediately closed off, an eerie match for the borrowed Uchiha clothing she was wearing. She eyed him uneasily, the red rings beneath them making the pupiless black of her eyes that much more unnerving.

"Kid, we're related."

Damn it! Too vague! Ah, if only he could scratch that out! Redraft it! Cut out the entire conversation!

She scrunched her brows. Then, her entire face lit up in realization, those fathomless eyes wide in shock and—.

Was that disgust?

It was. Rude. And highly unnecessary. He almost missed her fake civility.

Almost.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, you're my—you _are_, aren't you? Of all the Mary Sue bullshit—!"

"Hey!" He interjected crossly. "Watch your language!"

Heh. That was a thing grandpas said, right?

Oh, Gods, he's a grandpa.

Ew.

Yeah, alright, _some _disgust was warranted. On _his_ end.

"Wait," she said, hand rising to touch her unmasked face. "Those aren't tattoos?"

He smirked at her astonishment. "Nope! They're home grown, just like yours."

That clearly wasn't what she wanted to hear. "What?"

He sighed, suddenly feeling as old as a grandparent should be. "Look, chibi, I know this is weird, but it's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Her glare burned as much as Kakashi's, though her small stature lessened the bite. "My name is Hanako! If I go around with permanent tears on my face, I'll never be able to live it down!"

What.

_That's_ what she was so upset about?

He watched as she clutched at her face with her one remaining hand, clearly in significant distress. Gone was the severe girl who'd approached him for a mastery, whose every acquaintance called her 'mature for her age', whose file listed her IQ as _at least_ 180—although that particular test was due for a retake, soon—whose own peer group seemed to regard her as some sort of adult. In her place stood a little girl, distraught over her appearance like any other girl her age would be. It was…jarring was a poor word, but his mental thesaurus was failing him. Dissonant! That's what he wanted. It was dissonant, the two images refusing to reflect the being who'd made them.

He'd seen her more than once over the course of the month before the finals, observing her as she went about the village and interacted with civilians and her fellow shinobi alike. This…freak out…was incredibly out of character.

Swallowing around a lump in his throat, he held out a hand to the girl.

"Chibi-chan," his firm tone seemed to calm her, her black gaze fixing itself on his face. "Let me see your arm."

He gestured at the appendage and she warily reached out to him. Taking it in his hands, he slowly began unwinding the tight bandages from around the stump, taking note of the seal he revealed as he went. He hadn't really been paying attention—too overwhelmed by the possibility that he'd been so careless in enemy territory—but he could vaguely remember what it was supposed to look like. Finally free of the bandages, her arm looked so frail in his hands. Only two fingerbreadths—_his_ fingers, maybe four of hers—of arm remained beneath the elbow, a pad of gauze stuck to the straight edge of the injury. While terrible, it wasn't what had his heart sinking.

There, nestled in the crook of her elbow, was Orochimaru's Curse Seal of Heaven, the three black tomoe just managing to avoid the thick black band of her Sumigawa seal.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before looking at her face. It was pale, her freckles and the red of her budding clan markings standing out on her bloodless face. Her lips thinned and she reached out with her hand to lightly trace the foreign seal.

"That," she said thickly. "Explains a few things."

Yes, Jiraiya thought sadly. Yes, it did.


	45. But Not Unwanted

**Tsunade is hard to write. I hope I did her justice. I wrote literally all of this on my phone, so please point out any horrible mistakes.**

* * *

Tsunade's good mood had officially soured.

She was just about to cut her losses after an uncharacteristic winning streak—the first sign of troubles to come—when an all too familiar chakra signature made itself known behind her.

"Hime," Jiraiya said as he settled into the barstool beside hers, smiling wanly down at her. "It's been a while."

She sighed, downing her sake in a single gulp before slamming the cup down on the bar. "Go away, Jiraiya."

On her other side, Shizune watched their interaction nervously and Tsunade passed her a sign to be ready to run. Her apprentice nodded slightly, her grip on TonTon tightening enough to make the pig squeal in protest.

"Hime," her old teammate's voice was uncharacteristically serious, the jovial veneer he usually wore around her nowhere to be found. "I need your help."

She turned to look at him, face already twisted in a scowl, but he wasn't looking at her. No, he was looking over his shoulder at the entrance to the bar where three genin aged children stood looking back at him. Kushina's child was exchanging furious whispers with an—_the_—Uchiha brat, both boys shining beacons of how her desertion had hurt her Village. The girl with them was conspicuously shorter than them, with pale, freckled skin and curly brown hair that just reached her collarbone. She was dressed in a high collared shirt that was too similar to the Uchiha's jumpsuit for comfort. As if sensing Tsunade's gaze on her, she met it head on, the flat black of her pupilless eyes made all the more unsettling by the bright red of her bottom lashline. She hadn't seen markings like that since—.

"What's with the brats," her voice sounded just as strangled as she felt. "The old man sic another team on you?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Hime, sensei is dead. Orochimaru killed him."

The hubbub of the bar faded into silence as she took in that information. How was that possible? Sensei was one of the most powerful shinobi in history. Even if Orochimaru was his favorite, the idea of her teammate hurting him was so bizarre she couldn't even fathom it. Surely he wouldn't go easy on his old student with his life on the line? The thought that the man who'd told her so many stories of her uncle Tobirama was dead and gone, one more tie to her family severed, filled her with enough pain to cut through the drunken haze she'd purposely put herself in.

"So, what? Don't tell me the old fogies want me to take his place."

Of course, they did. Jiraiya wouldn't have come in person, otherwise. As much as it hurt to admit, he only ever sought her out when he needed something. She'd made it too difficult to be worth a casual visit.

"Yes, but that's not all," her old friend's aged face was dour as he gestured at the children. "Chibi-chan, come here."

The girl child answered him, leaving her teammates bickering at the door to stand between the Sannin on their barstools. Jiraiya reached out and placed a hand on her head, ruffling her curls with a grimace.

"This is Hanako Hatake, Kakashi's brat." Um, what? "She was one of Orochimaru's targets during his little invasion and ended up hurt. Go on, chibi. Show her."

Those fathomless black eyes darted between the two elder shinobi before a henge proofed out of existence, revealing a perfectly identical child—.

Oh.

The poor brat had lost an arm—a traditionally crippling injury for a ninja—missing everything below the perfectly clean cut just past her elbow.

"I don't suppose you have the arm?"

"I do, actually." Oh, good. The idea of it sitting in a lab somewhere was not a nice one. "But it probably won't do much good."

Tsunade worked a brow at him, sneering at his assumption. "And what makes you think that? This is obviously a recent injury, if you're asking for help. I hope you're not insinuating I've lost my touch."

"It's because of the seal." The girl's voice was quiet in a way that demanded attention, low pitched and stern. Light glinted off of pointed Hatake teeth—how long had it been since she'd seen _those_? "I tried to avoid it by cutting it off, but I wasn't fast enough, so—."

Tsunade held up a hand, reevaluating her opinion of the child in front of her. "_You_ cut off the arm?"

The kid sighed. "He bit my wrist. In order to avoid becoming a horcrux, I cut off my arm. The Cursed Seal still took, though." As she said this, she unwrapped the layer of bandages covering the stump of her left arm. There was no fresh blood—thank the Gods—and Tsunade could tell that it was healing nicely. Well, as nicely as an amputation could. The remnants of a fairly large tattoo were also revealed, the three tomoe of Orochimaru's seal almost blending in with the design.

"It's smaller than his other ones," Jiraiya said as Tsunade took the kid's arm in her hands, twisting it to get a better grasp of her situation. "Anko's is at least three times the size of this one, so you probably did something right, chibi. It's a shame it wasn't completely effective."

Indeed. Based on what little she'd been told, Tsunade guessed that this little girl had somehow managed to cut off _her own arm_ before Orochimaru's chakra could take proper root in her system. Her old comrade tended to prefer the neck as a point of entry, but, barring that, he would always go for a tenketsu. There were two in the wrist, and with Hanako's slender build it wouldn't be hard to hit both of them at once with those grotesque fangs of his. The only way Tsunade could see it happening was if the kid had cut off her arm while Orochimaru was still injecting chakra, but that…

That took a lot of gumption. More than most shinobi _Tsunade's _age had. This fragile little girl didn't look like much, but Tsunade of all people knew how deceiving appearances could be.

"Well, chibi," she began, adopting Jiraiya's nickname for herself. "Do you feel any different?"

The kid nodded, sighing more heavily than a child her age had a right to. "I've noticed greater difficulty in regulating my emotions, especially anger. I can normally keep my frustrations to myself, but I've been voicing them a lot lately. Even when speaking with my superiors, I've been uncharacteristically short."

Jiraiya grumbled something under his breath and Tsunade got the feeling that this was probably the good child. A glance at the boys—trying and failing to sneak closer to their conversation—confirmed her theory.

"That's all? You haven't noticed any fluctuations in your chakra control or reserves? No changes in your cycle?"

The kid looked bemused at Jiraiya's sudden interest in his sake cup, clearly uncomfortable with the shift in conversation. "I haven't begun my cycle, yet, Tsunade-hime, and everything else is normal."

What?

"How old are you, chibi?"

"I will be twelve come the winter solstice, Tsunade-hime."

Too old. Especially for a kunoichi.

"Is Hatake your only clan? That's highly irregular, I hope you know."

The kid blanched, suddenly looking very small as she looked up at Jiraiya for guidance.

The white haired Senju sighed again. "That's another reason we came to find you, Hime, and classified information, besides. We'll need to go somewhere more private if you want to have this conversation."

How strange.

And annoying. The more time she spent with Jiraiya, the easier it would be for him to sink his manipulative hooks into her. Anyone else would have a hard time seeing his game, but Tsunade wasn't as young as she pretended to be. Their conversation had gone from 'sensei's dead' to 'my student's tragic backstory requires Privacy™', the transitions so smooth and natural it almost looked like her idea.

Hmph, he was lucky she wasn't a heartless monster, or she'd have tossed him and his cute little student out onto the road.

"Fine," she spat, making doubly sure to portray her anger with the situation. "Gather your brats and follow me."

Shizune, who'd been standing by, ready to run, paid the bartender and scrambled to keep up with Tsunade as she stormed from the building and out into the fading light of day. The boys fell over each other to avoid her, Kushina's son voicing his loud disapproval only to be scolded by Jiraiya. The Uchiha glared at her over a mask that was too much like Kakashi's to be based on anything else, the heat in that gaze bringing back memories of long dead friends before he was distracted by the girl linking her arm with his.

Oh~. Uchiha always were popular, weren't they? More so than the Senju, anyway.

Tsunade lead the way to the inn, ignoring Jiraiya's flirtations with the staff as she let the whole gang into the suite she and Shizune had shared for the past week.

"Well," she said, sitting on the couch with a huff and crossed arms. "Let's hear this 'classified information', then."

Five pairs of eyes turned to Jiraiya, the blue ones scrunching in confusion.

"Eh? Are we telling more secrets, Pervy Sage? I thought we ready did that!"

Jiraiya ran a large hand down his face, a lifetime's worth of exasperation written across it as Tsunade laughed, not even bothering to hide her amusement. The laughter brought tears to her eyes and she made a big show of wiping them away, taking even greater joy from the scowl on Jiraiya's face.

"That suits you so well, _Pervy Sage_. Ha! I love it!"

The blond brat preened under her approval, blushing in a way that brought up painful memories of his mother. Ah, her poor little cousin. Such a bright light, snuffed out too soon, just like so many others.

They hadn't come to reminiscence, though.

"This time, they're my secrets," the chibi was saying, straight dark brows furrowed in an angry scowl. "And I'd rather nobody knew them, at all."

"Chibi-chan," Jiraiya's tone was stern but gentle. "You can take the boys somewhere else, if you'd rather they don't know, but Tsunade-hime has a right to. Besides, this is my secret, too."

Tsunade's gaze narrowed on the tall man standing in her room, searching his face for some hint about what he might say. It couldn't be…

The girl scoffed, trying to cross her arms and failing. "And let you say whatever you want? I don't think so."

Smart girl.

Jiraiya pulled a gourd from his belt and took a long drink, his expression sour. "Tsunade-hime, I'd like to formally introduce my grandchild, Hanako Hatake."

The end table disintegrated under her fist, the force of her blow sending ominous cracks through the wooden floor. She sprang to her feet, grabbing hold of Jiraiya's red haori with both hands and dragging his face down to her level.

"What the hell have I told you about wrapping it before you tap it, you idiot? A grandkid? You mean there's a whole ass child wandering around out there? When the fuck were you gonna tell me, huh?"

Jiraiya took hold of her shoulders, expression placating as he explained. "Hime, please, you don't understand! I didn't even know about this until last week, honest!"

She released him, taking perverse joy in the way he stumbled back as she turned to look at the girl more closely.

She was short for her age and slender, skin pale and freckled rather than the healthy tans most of her clan once sported. Her brown hair was a shade commonly found among Senju, although the curls were not, and, while many of them had dark eyes, none had eyes quite so unsettlingly black. The red markings under her eyes made sense, now, though. It was always a toss up whether or not a Senju would have them, with even siblings being divided by their appearance. Her uncle Tobirama had hypothesized that it might have something to do with chakra use and development before puberty, but there were too few of them left to really test that. While she was glad she'd escaped the permanent marks, a part of her was always privately jealous that _Jiraiya_, a boy from a branch family, had got them I stead of her, the heiress. Seeing them on someone else's face, a _child's _face, erased all of that. She would never have children, had made that choice, and had accepted that Jiraiya wouldn't either, accepted the death of her clan. Now though…

She reached out and took Hanako's face in her hands, poring over every detail and burning them into her mind. If her hands shook, the girl didn't mention it and Tsunade was grateful. Tentatively, she reached out with her chakra, letting her lightning brush up against—! Water. Of course, it was water. Tear came unbidden to her eyes and she ruffled the child's hair both to show her affection and to distract those too observant eyes.

"Hatake, huh? There are even less of them than there are Senju. I guess we won't be adding you to our registry, will we, chibi-chan?"

The relief that crossed Hanako's face was kick in the gut.

"Woah, Hana-chan, Pervy Sage's your grandpa! That sucks!"

"Hn."

Ah, the Uchiha grunt. The memories she had of _that._

"Actually," Jiraiya said over the children's chatter. "Hanako isn't a Hatake, at all."

The girl in question hissed, baring her teeth at her grandfather as if daring him to continue. There was a light in those eyes, burning from within in a way that roiled Tsunade's stomach.

Orochimaru, tthen.

"Explain," Tsunade demanded, clinging desperately to the chance that another name might be added to her clan registry.

Jiraiya's expression turned sad then and he spread his hands in a 'what can you do' manner. "I'm sorry, Hime, but that information is for the Hokage's ears, only. Sensei signed off on it, himself."

Rage boiled over within Tsunade, the Slug Princess recognizing the corner her kinsman had backed her into. He knew all her weaknesses, all her innermost desires, and he'd used them to string her along just far enough that she would walk the rest of the way on her own. The bastard!

"Get out!"

"Now, Hime—!" He narrowly dodged the potted plant she hurled at his head.

"Out! I can't stand the sight of you!"

He fled.

Left behind, the three genin looked up at her, their expressions ranging from seething anger-Hanako—to fearful awe-Kushina's son—to a rapidly crumbling mask of nonchalance—the Uchiha. With a sigh she threw herself back onto the couch, holding her hand out to Shizune for a cup of sake.

"So, brats," she drawled after throwing back a shot. "Enlighten me; why the hell should I be Hokage?"


	46. Uncanny

**Yooooo! It's been so long! So sorry! I won't bore you with excuses, but...**

**I haven't said this here, yet, but I'm gonna be writing Round Three in November for NaNoWriMo. This means it will likely be the only thing I work on during that month, with an upload every day of at least 1700 words. It will be set in Kakashi's generation, and I've already commissioned art for it! Go check it out on my tumblr at exhausted-dog-mom under the tag _Shinobi Isekai._**

** I'm gonna do my best to get this fic to the time skip pre-Shippuden before November. Fighting! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑**

* * *

Naruto looked up at the blonde woman with half lidded eyes. She certainly didn't _look _like Hana, with her golden undertone and upturned eyes. She was lounging in her seat, arms thrown over the back of the sofa and legs crossed in a pose even he recognized as arrogance, the shadow of a smile on her admittedly beautiful face. Her appearance threw him off, a bit, since this was Tsunade Senju, the Pervy Sage's genin teammate. Hana had told him about her after he started training with the old man, so he knew a little about her. Namely her age. Jiraiya certainly looked like a man in his fifties—acted like one, too, the lecher—but his teammate didn't look a day over thirty.

Her question ignited a fire in him and his first instinct was to demand why anyone _wouldn't_ want to be Hokage, but he stopped himself. Barely. He could feel his face heating from the effort and he staunchly did _not_ look at Sasuke-teme. Nu-uh.

Well, he did look at him, but he also looked at Hana! Nobody was speaking, so he needed to see if they were planning something with their eyes like they sometimes did. It was weird, seeing them in matching outfits. Hana's pale skin and dark eyes really lent themselves to the whole Uchiha vibe she had going, but the violent red of the marking on her face ruined the effect. Poor Hana, stuck with a grandpa like Pervy Sage.

As he'd thought, his friends were having a conversation with their eyes, neither of them paying much attention to him or the legendary kunoichi in front of them.

Well, then. He'd have to say something.

"Ahem," he began, hoping he wasn't about to completely dash any hopes of bringing Tsunade home for Lee. "Well, you're super strong, right? And smart! And you're a Senju, so if you come back, the village's morale will get better, since it went down after the invasion and everything." He leaned over to Sasuke, who was looking at him with wide eyes, and whispered. "Morale is the right word, right?"

"Hn."

"Right!" He turned back to the older kunoichi, pumping his fist in excitement. "Also, also! The Raikage and his brother are still in the village, so if someone as strong an amazing as you becomes Hokage, they won't cause any trouble!"

Tsunade's brows rose sharply and she leaned forward. "Why is the Raikage in the village?"

"He came for the Chunin Exams," Sasuke answered lowly. "There was a genin from Kumo in the finals."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! His brother, Killer Bee, is so cool! Believe it! He visits Gaara with me!"

"He does?" Hana's voice was quiet and he almost talked over her. "That's nice."

Naruto's face hurt from smiling so wide. "Yeah! It's really cool, since he's been a jinchuriki way longer than we have and—!"

"Wait," Tsunade held up a nicely manicured hand. "Kumo's jinchuriki is in Konoha?"

"And Suna's," Hana agreed. "Things could have ended badly."

"Yeah, but Killer Bee stopped Gaara before he could lose control," Naruto interjected. "So, everything's fine!"

"Hold on a minute!" All three genin looked up, wide eyed, at a stern Tsunade. Hazel eyes glared at them before narrowing on Hana. "There are two foreign jinchuriki in the village, and one foreign Kage. Am I understanding that right?"

Hana nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"And you want me to clean up that mess? For free?"

"What do you want?"

The smile on Tsunade's face was not kind. "Nothing you can give me."

Naruto's face scrunched as he once again took in the differences between the two kunoichi. Hana's hair was even more unkempt than usual and the dark bags under her eyes made the bright red of those unfortunate markings stand out all the more on her pale, somewhat haggard face. She really didn't look very good, did she? Regardless, the look in her dark eyes was as serious as he'd ever seen it, her sharp teeth—larger than his, though he hated to admit it—worrying at her bottom lip as she used her awesome brain to figure out the best response. She was handling the situation the way she handled everything, slowly and with a deliberation that Naruto had come to expect from her. Sometimes, he swore she took more time than she needed just to test his patience, such as it was. Tsunade, on the other hand, was the picture of nonchalance. The way she was looking down at them, the corner of her mouth tilting ever so slightly up, made it clear she couldn't care less about the arguments they might present. He knew that look, his entire soul curdling inside him as he recognized it. She'd already made up her mind. Everything they said would go in one ear and out the other, leaving no changes in their wake.

Naruto's mouth twisted in realization. Had Tsunade stayed in the village, she probably would have been one of the people who hated him. Was that the kind of person he wanted as Hokage?

He tugged on Hana's sleeve, bringing her out of her mind and grabbing both her and Sasuke's attention.

"Don't bother," he said, unable to keep his bitterness from his tone. "She's not gonna do it, no matter what we say. Kakashi-sensei at least pretends to listen. He can just stay Hokage."

Sasuke's face contorted comically, eyes wide and mouth gaping as he waved his hands frantically. Hana turned to look at Naruto with a conversely blank expression.

"Kakashi is Hokage?"

Sasuke covered his face with his hands, sighing heavily through them. Was it supposed to be some kind of secret? No one told Naruto. That didn't seem like the kind of thing that should be a secret, anyway. More importantly,

"Since when do you call him Kakashi?"

Hanako recoiled, suddenly finding herself the center of attention. Tsunade's awful smugness was gone, replaced by serious concern. Now, Naruto could see the resemblance.

"Chibi," the legendary kunoichi said slowly. "Are you alright?"

Hana took a deep, shuddering breath. "Yes, ma'am. I'm fine. I was simply unaware that Kakashi Hatake was currently Hokage. Speaking of which," she turned to the boys with a smile so fake it looked just like her father's and sent the same chills down their spines. "Why the hell are we trying to coerce Tsunade into taking that position if it's already filled? That seems like a waste of time, don't you think?"

Oh, no. She was mad. He and Sasuke exchanged panicked glances, holding a silent conversation of their own.

"Why did you tell her?" Sasuke's raised eyebrows demanded.

"I didn't know it was a secret!" Naruto insisted with a widening of his eyes.

Sasuke jerked his chin at her. "Well, now you have to explain."

"Me?" Naruto scrunched his nose in desperate denial. "No! I'll make it worse!"

Sasuke's thick dark brows furrowed deeply in aggravated agreement. "Fine."

Naruto folded his arms over his chest in a pout, somewhat miffed over Sasuke's quick acceptance. He wasn't that bad at explaining things, was he?

"Hana-chan," Sasuke was saying—with his words, this time. "Kakashi-sensei was appointed as interim Hokage by the Clan Heads in an emergency vote before the invasion was even officially over. With the Raikage in Konoha, there needed to be someone in charge, even temporarily."

Hanako's eyes narrowed even as her nostrils flared, an angry exhale sending both boys a step back. It was so surreal. Hana-chan never got angry. Disappointed, yes, and certainly unhappy, but angry? Now that Naruto thought about it, Kakashi-sensei was the same way, wasn't he? The only real difference was Hana didn't bother with fake smiles.

"I see. And was there a reason no one told me about this? I seem to recall lying in a hospital bed for the better part of a week—plenty of time to explain that the _head of my clan_ is now also the effective head of the village, don't you think?"

It was a trap. He knew it was. Shikamaru said girls laid traps like those all the time and Naruto was inclined to believe him. Even so.

"You're right." Some of her animosity faded into surprise, but not all of it. He reached up and scratched at the back of his head, looking up at the ceiling as he struggled to find an answer. "I don't know why nobody told you. It's totally something you should know, believe it!"

Hana threw up her hands—er, hand. "Right? Everyone is always asking why I know so many things I shouldn't, but _maybe_ I wouldn't have figured any of it out if they'd told me what I needed to know in the first place!"

"Hey, yeah, that makes sense!"

"As amusing as this is," they turned to look at Tsunade who did look very amused at their expense. "Does this mean I can stay here?"

"No way!" Naruto placed his fists on his hips, mimicking Sakura at her most bossy. "You're the only one who can heal Lee!"

To his surprise, Hanako copied his pose. "Yeah! Lee-kun needs your help!"

"Hn."

That look was on Tsunade's face again and it left a sour taste in Naruto's mouth.

"So, we're back to square one, then. There is nothing you can offer me that will make me set foot in that village again."

"Not even the Mokuton?"

Hazel eyes zeroed in on Hana, all levity gone as the kunoichi stared each other down. The older woman carefully set down her sake bottle, the ceramic cracked from her white knuckled grip.

"You don't have it," she said with absolute certainty, a dangerous light in her eyes. "So why bring it up?"

That horrible expression was on Hanako's face now, albeit muted by a sadness that seemed somehow deeper than her usual melancholy.

"You've been away from the village for a long time, Tsunade-hime. When was the last time you visited your grandfather's grave?"

Tsunade stood abruptly, the reaction disproportionate to the question. There was another layer there, something Naruto was missing. A quick glance told him Sasuke was missing it too, though, so it was fine.

"What are you insinuating, brat?" Tsunade's anger, like Hana's, made itself known in clenched teeth and flared nostrils, an expression Naruto had seen on the Pervy Sage's face once or twice, too.

Hanako held her ground, lips curling in a baring of teeth too tense to be a smile. "When you get to Konoha, ask about Anbu Agent Neko. I understand he was Orochimaru's only success."

Naruto leapt back, using Sasuke-teme as a shield as Tsunade moved. To his chagrin, it was only to collapse on the couch, her head held in her hands.

"Get out," Tsunade's voice trembled in the way Hana's sometimes did. "Gods, you're just like him, aren't you? Get out!" The last word was a shout and Hana turned sharply on her heel. Naruto stared blankly at the Uchiwa emblazoned on the back of her borrowed shirt before being tugged along by Sasuke. He tossed a final look over his shoulder and saw the other lady laying a comforting hand on Tsunade's shoulder just as the door closed behind him.

The three of them stood in the hallway, the silence tense and awkward. Hanako sighed.

"Come on," she said softly. "We should go find Jiraiya-sama."

Naruto snorted. "He's probably in a bar, trying to hit up women." He put a hand on the top of Hanako's head. "Sorry your grandpa's such a perv."

She smiled, just a little bit, and shrugged. "We don't get to pick our family, Naru-nii."

Yeah. He knew that. If they could, _he_ would be the one living with Kakashi-sensei, not Sasuke-teme.

Immediately, Naruto was overcome with shame. Sasuke-teme was a perfect example of someone who should be able to choose a family. He'd just met that horrible brother of his, hadn't he? The one who _murdered_ the entire rest of his family. His _clan_. Naruto would never be able to understand that kind of loss, and most days he was grateful for that, but…was it so bad to want just a little of what he had? His heart ached whenever he spent time at their house, though it was no fault of theirs. He was always welcome there, even before Kakashi became Kakashi-sensei. Hana was his friend and she'd always gone out of her way to make him feel welcome even if the rest of her household was more apathetic about…well, everything. He should be happy that she was gaining more family members, but he still couldn't keep the burning jealousy from raising its ugly head within him.

"It'd sure be awesome if we could," he said with a smile he knew she saw right through. "I'd take that Pervy Sage off your hands, believe it!"

She furrowed her brows at him, opening her mouth as if to say something before clearly changing her mind and then changing it again. Without her mask, it was so much easier to read her expressions. Usually, he had to rely on her chakra, but she wasn't projecting it nearly as much as she had before the invasion.

"You know, Naruto," she said softly, dark eyes gentle. "Tsunade-hime's grandmother was an Uzumaki."

_Nani?_

Naruto could feel his eyes widening, knew he was gaping like a fish out of water, knew his eyebrows were rising behind Iruka-sensei's hitai-ate. Before he could fully register what he was doing, he felt himself being pulled back as he tried to barge his way back into the old woman's room.

"Dobe," Sasuke hissed in his ear, the cloth of his mask brushing against Naruto's cheek as he pulled him back, arms wrapped around his neck in a restraining embrace. "Don't be an idiot. She just kicked us out!"

"But teme," he hissed back, turning to glare straight into Sasuke's dark eyes. "I-I have a family!?"

The look in Sasuke's eyes softened, but his grip didn't. "I know, dobe, but she doesn't want to see us right now. We can come back later. We need to go find that old man, right? You're the one who knows him best."

Naruto slumped in his teammate's arms, crumpling his face as he let out a long, high pitched whine. "But _teme_~."

Sasuke's eyes curled at the edges the way they did when he smiled. "_Dobe~_. Come on, you know where she is, now, so you can come back, later."

Hmph. Naruto stood on his own feet and allowed Sasuke to pull him along by the wrist as Hana-chan lead the way out of the hotel. He kept a stalwart pout on his face even in the wake of Hana's deadpan stare—_way_ too much like Kakashi-sensei's.

"The bar he likes is this way," he finally said with a huff. "He might not be there, though."

He was there. Sitting at the bar, leaning in toward a young woman in a low cut shirt with a leer on his lined face. It took him a moment to notice the three genin, but the weight of their gazes—resigned, disbelieving, disheartened—drew his attention, eventually.

"Oh? The princess is done with you, is she? Am I going to have to track her down again, or did you manage to pull a miracle?"

"Hana-chan said something that made her cry," Naruto said casually, scowling at Sasuke when he elbowed him with a hiss. "But it's Hana-chan so it's probably part of a plan, or something."

The old sage turned incredulous—and somewhat reproachful—eyes on his grandchild. "Chibi-chan, you didn't."

"She needs to come back to the village," the kunoichi said with a shrug, though her face was a little contrite. "I said what I needed to make that happen."

"So, she'll come?"

"If she doesn't, I'll be very surprised."

"I see."

Naruto looked back and forth between them, again scanning for similarities. Hana had more in common with her grandfather than with her…cousin? That made sense, though. The most obvious resemblance was in the red markings under their eyes. Pervy Sage's were long and tear like, forming lines which dripped down his face and ended on the underside of his jaw, the red bright against his weathered skin in a way no tattoo could be. Hana's were less obtrusive, but still eye catching. The red was the same as Jiraiya's, but it stood out more on Hana's pale skin, staining her bottom lashline and making it look like she'd just finished crying. Without her mask, the shape of her face was more obvious, and Naruto took a moment to be glad she didn't look more like the old man, though that might have been due to the difference in their ages. Her face was rounder, with a pointier chin and a much smaller nose—lucky her. As she spoke, her dimples made themselves known, and Naruto quickly turned to catch their twins appearing on Pervy Sage's face.

"Careful, brat," Jiraiya laughed, ruffling Naruto's blond hair with one very large hand. "You'll give yourself whiplash."

Naruto scowled. "I still can't believe you're Hana-chan's grandpa. She's cute!"

Sasuke scoffed beside him and Hana smiled just enough to bring her dimples out of hiding. Jiraiya's face, on the other hand, darkened with anger as he roughened his treatment of Naruto's hair.

"Oi, what is that supposed to mean? I'll have you know I was the cutest kid in Konoha, back in the day!"

"Yeah, _way_ back."

"Oi!"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the sage, pleased by the sound of Sasuke's quiet chuckles and Hana's amused sigh. They were both such serious people, even more so in the wake of recent events, and Naruto was happy to play the fool if it made them smile, just a little bit.

"So, this is where you've holed up."

All four of them turned around to see Tsunade herself standing in the bar's entryway. Her hands were on her hips and a sneer was on her face, but her hazel eyes were as red rimmed as Hana's.

"Hime," Jiraiya's face broke out into a smile that was almost sincere. "Have you made a decision?"

Tsunade sniffed derisively and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not taking the job, if that's what you're asking, but," her tone sounded almost pained. "I guess a check in wouldn't be remiss."

Naruto pumped his fist into the air, jumping and shouting in excitement. "We did it! Lee's gonna be a ninja again, believe it!"

The older kunoichi scoffed at his enthusiasm. "I never said anything about healing anyone, brat. There are things I need to look into, that's all."

"Hey, you can't do that!" Naruto trotted up to her, bounding from foot to foot. "Come on, Lee really needs your help! He got hurt _super_ bad during the Chunin Exams and-and-and he needs help!" He looked up at the best medic-nin in the world, eyes brimming with tears. "Please, please,_ please_, Tsunade-baa-chan!"

Behind him, Jiraiya choked on nothing, coughing loudly as he placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders and tried to pull him back. Naruto kept his gaze fixed on Tsunade's face, on the shock and rage blooming there. Had Hana been wrong? Was Tsunade not related to him, after all? Baa-chan was the right honorific, right? She was his aunty or something, had to be!

"What did you call me, brat?"

More tears welled up in Naruto's eyes. "A-aren't you my baa-chan?"

The sharp look in her eyes suddenly softened and the lady behind her covered her mouth with the hand that wasn't carrying a pig.

Tsunade sighed, long and hard, and placed a slender hand on his head. She smiled, then, looking a little bit more like Hana as she did. "Yeah, brat, I guess I am."

Ah, so this was what family felt like. He could see why Sasuke was so angry, now, just a little.

"But," her tone was firm and her expression serious. "That doesn't mean I'm gonna just heal whoever you ask me to. I have to see the injury for myself before I make any promises, anyway."

Naruto nodded emphatically. "Right! Ok! You're coming, though, right?"

She sighed again, glaring at Jiraiya from over Naruto's head. "Yeah, I am."

Naruto turned to smile widely at his friends, both of whom replied with bemused nods of their heads. They were weirdly alike, sometimes, especially with their matching outfits.

"We should get going, then," Jiraiya said as he stood from the barstool, stretching and taking up way too much space. "We need to get the village settled before old Orochi-chan has a chance to cover his tracks."

Hana-chan looked up at her grandfather, one brow quirked. "That shouldn't be a problem. Should it, Yakushi-senpai?"

The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck stood on end as Pervy Sage's entire aura changed, waves of sweat inducing menace rolling off of him. Naruto followed Hanako's gaze to another patron sitting at the bar. At first glance—and second, _and_ third—it was just a man, slouching over the bar and nursing a clear glass of some drink or another. Then, the man huffed in amusement.

"I should have known I couldn't get past that nose of yours, Hatake-chan." The henge dispelled, revealing Kabuto! What was he doing in Tanzaku-gai?

Hana hummed. "You could have, if you'd wanted to."

"Who is this? Another friend of yours?"

Jiraiya sneered in response to Tsunade's question. "This boy's one of Orochimaru's newest lackeys."

"Not new," Hanako corrected blithely. "And not just Orochimaru's."

Light glinted off Kabuto's glasses. "You're going to have to tell me how you know all this, Hatake-chan."

"Come back with me, and I will."

The older genin—was he, though? Naruto wasn't sure, anymore—spread his hands helplessly. "It would seem we are at an impasse." He turned to Tsunade, his demeanor so different from the kinda nerdy guy Naruto remembered from the Exams. "I was sent here to make an offer to you, Tsunade-hime, and I would like to at least say my piece before I go." He presented a scroll with both hands and bowed slightly. "Please, take this. I will be able to tell my master that I did this much, at least."

The legendary kunoichi took it with a curled lip, tossing it over her shoulder for her friend to catch. "If Orochimaru wants anything from me, tell him to ask me himself."

"Of course," Kabuto bowed again, winked at Hanako, and poofed out of existence.

Wait, he knew the Shadow Clone jutsu? Wasn't that a forbidden technique? Why did so many people know it, then?

He went through so much trouble to learn it, so how? Why? It wasn't fair!

"Chibi-chan," Jiraiya said reprovingly. "You're gonna have to explain that."

She sighed, suddenly looking very tired. "I know. I'd rather do it once, if I can help it, though."

Naruto grinned as the old man ruffled her hair the same way he had his, the strangeness of the situation forgotten in the wake of his friend's aggrieved expression.

"Fine. Let's get going, then. The sooner we get to Konoha, the sooner you can spill all your secrets."

Hana didn't look too happy about that, but Sasuke deflated with relief. Naruto reached out and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, hanging off the taller boy.

"Thanks for coming to save me," he told his teammate. "I'd have been caught if you hadn't."

Sasuke looked away, staunchly avoiding his gaze. "Whatever, dobe."

"Tch, forget it, then, teme."

* * *

**Adding this a day later.**

**I'm thinking of making a tumblr just for the Shinobi Isekai fics. I post previews of upcoming chapters and ask questions which greatly influence the story on my personal blog, exhausted-dog-mom, but I understand if people would rather just get updates on the fics rather than slogging through my other posts. What do you think? Is that something you would be interested in?**


	47. Dog Pile

**I cried writing this, y'all. Be warned.**

**I went ahead and made the tumblr for this series, at _shinobi-isekai _(creative, I know). It is exclusively for Shinobi Isekai News and updates, so feel free to follow! I post the art there, as well as writing previews and questions for you guys that have really big influence on the chapters!**

**Kakashi's Dogs (Pakkun, Bull, Bisuke, Urushi, Shiba, Akino, Uhei, Guruko) + Hanako's Dogs (Momiji, Sanosuke, Tetsu, Puppy 1, Puppy 2) = 13 dogs. Yowza.**

* * *

Kakashi was having a bad day. A bad week, really, but today was the worst.

It started when Asuma was admitted to the hospital after a run in with Itachi Uchiha—who Kakashi was expressly forbidden from engaging, much to his chagrin. Gai had lamented the lack of actual combat, crying worryingly fat tears over Asuma's prone body as he was carried away. Then, someone came in to tell him that his kid had escaped the hospital. For a single, glorious moment, he thought she'd come out of her slump, that she'd come walking through the door to the Hokage's office and sigh reprovingly at him. Then, when it became clear that her escape was _facilitated, _by his other kid, no less, and that they'd immediately sped out of the village to gods knew where, that high plummeted into a gut wrenching worry. He wasn't stupid, naïve, or optimistic enough to think their impromptu vacation had nothing to do with the sudden arrival of another Uchiha in the village. His insides were tying themselves into knots, his every instinct demanding he pursue and bring the idiots back home and never let them leave the compound again. Certain people—the council, Clan Heads, and the _Raikage_—were all conspiring against him, however, keeping him all but chained to the Hokage's surprisingly plush chair with meaningless petitions he didn't actually have the power to oversee. If he were any less a trained professional, his leg would be bouncing with anxiety.

It was his fault, really. Being interim Hokage was such a convenient excuse—and a legitimate one, for once—to avoid his responsibilities. Of course, one of those responsibilities was a living person who was probably really upset with him for avoiding her. The last time he saw his daughter, she had just undergone emergency treatment. She lay in the hospital bed, too pale, too small, too quiet, her petrichor scent drowned out by the stench of antiseptics and foul medical concoctions. Looking at her, it wasn't too big a leap to imagine her laying on a metal table in the morgue, instead, to picture her name on the Memorial Stone, the see himself standing by it and running his fingertips over the unfortunate kanji that made up her name. The very idea had him fleeing the hospital with his tail between his legs, willingly burying himself in paperwork just too keep it from ever rising up in his brain again.

His cowardice stung, eating at him every time he spent more than two minutes unoccupied. Now, it was threatening to swallow him alive, nervous sweat beading on his forehead as he waited for two Sannin to come through the office doors.

Was it too late to escape? The window was open, a gentle breeze teasing him with the promise of freedom. He must have been too obvious, as Tenzou's chakra flared in the ceiling above him. Drat.

With a sigh, he slumped in his seat just in time for the door to burst open, Tsunade Senju storming into the room like the force of nature she was. She closed the distance between the doorway and the desk with quick strides, slamming her open palms on the old wood with enough force to shake it but nowhere near her full power. Her hazel eyes glared at him and he took a little pride in his lack of outward reaction. He smiled his usual sugar sweet smile, closing his one eye in the face of the Slug Sage's wrath.

"Yo, Tsunade-hime, it's been a while."

The older woman seethed, letting out a long, hissing breath. "Hatake. What the hell have you been teaching these brats?"

His eyebrows rose of their own accord. Looking past her, he noticed with a start that his two missing children were standing beside a grinning Naruto and a woefully put upon Jiraiya. Relief welled up in him at the sight of them, whole and unharmed, only to be dashed by the way Hanako avoided his gaze, hiding behind Sasuke and using the boy's superior height to hide from him.

Oh no.

The sight of her in Uchiha clothing certainly wasn't helping. The high collar hid her unmasked face, and he could recognize that Sasuke's options were probably limited when he busted her out of the hospital, but the reminder of her—non-Hatake—heritage was a kick in the gut. He shut his eyes, blocking out the unwelcome view, before turning back to Tsunade.

"Mah, I'm not sure what you mean, Tsunade-hime. Did my cute little genin do something wrong?"

Oh, she did _not_ like that. Her nostrils flared even as her eyes narrowed. "Cute? These _menaces_ are not cute!"

"Eh? Baa-chan, that's mean! We're the cutest, believe it!"

Ah. He got it now. Beneath his mask, he let the corner of his lip quirk upward. "Naruto, that's no way to speak to a lady."

The blond scrunched his face in confusion, the expression so like his mother's it hurt. "Eh? But she's my baa-chan, believe it! Hana-chan said so!"

Tsunade's long suffering sigh and a wave of her hand conveyed her agreement, if not her approval.

"Indeed," she said. "_Hana-chan_ said a lot of things." She threw a glare over her shoulder at the child, but it was deflected by Sasuke, the Uchiha's expression impassive above the mask. "Things that need to be verified."

Oh, no. What had his little genius done, now? He knew from experience how easy it was to figure out secrets no one outside the highest ranks of Anbu should know, and he assumed Hanako knew better than to share those secrets without official clearance.

Then again, he'd also assumed she knew better than to adopt his bad habit of escaping hospitals—she certainly scolded him for it often enough.

"Mah, kiddo," he drawled, pretending her wince didn't send a senbon through his heart. "What did you say?"

She didn't answer, dark, red rimmed eyes focused on the floor, the scent of tears carrying across the room to hit him in the face. Oh, no. Panic welled up within him and he yearned to reach out with his chakra to soothe whatever hurt was making her cry. He couldn't, though, not with so many people between them. Hanako—and, to a lesser extent, Sasuke—was well accustomed to the feel of his chakra, and, as his child, was expected to be. These others, these non-Clan, were not. Touching them with his chakra would be incredibly rude and entirely deserving of punishment. So, instead of comforting his kid, he sat slumped in his borrowed chair, a fake smile plastered on his face as she actively hid from him.

His question _was_ answered, however.

"I was told to ask after Anbu Agent Neko."

Kakashi didn't need enhanced senses to hear Tenzou's sharp inhale in the ceiling and Tsunade did her training justice by pointedly not looking up.

"Hoh," Kakashi turned his gaze back to Hanako. "And how did you know about that?"

That information was top secret. He, Tenzou, and Danzo Shimura were the only people still alive who had any business knowing it. Hanako's genius was not, by any means, a sufficient excuse for knowing that Tenzou even existed, let alone why he would be of interest to Tsunade. Kakashi consciously hardened both his heart and his gaze, reminding himself why the girl had been placed in his care in the first place. Sharingan aside, she was still technically from Kiri, as Jiraiya so helpfully supplied, and there was no love lost between their villages. Although he could honestly say he probably knew Hanako better than anyone else in the village, he was still viscerally aware that she kept secrets, some of which he knew, others he had yet to uncover.

At the very least, he could say she bore no ill will for Konoha. The dogs would have told him if she had.

The child in question was still dodging eye contact, worrying at her bottom lip with teeth that looked like his, hiding behind a boy wearing a mask like his, and no doubt considering the odds of escape just like him.

The barrier he'd erected around his heart cracked, just a little.

"Answer me, kiddo. This is important."

She looked at him then, fathomless eyes wide and brimming with tears. The heat of Sasuke's glare was appreciated, as it reminded him they weren't alone and he couldn't vault over the desk and whisk her away from the world that insisted on hurting her time and time again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, barely audible even to his ears. "I needed her to come. _Lee_ needed her to come."

Ah. Kakashi leaned back in the chair, some of his tension gone with that admission. Lee. Guy's little mini-me. His kid's best friend from her academy days. Right.

He should have known that would be her motivation. He was there when the boy received his career ending injury, after all. The same injury which awakened his kid's weird Sharingan.

"That's _why_, kiddo," he said slowly, glad that Tsunade and Jiraiya were staying uncharacteristically quiet during their exchange. There was nothing more annoying than people inserting themselves into his parenting—when he parented, that is. "I need to know how."

She was trembling. Her one hand was gripping Sasuke's jumpsuit so tightly, he doubted it would ever iron out properly.

"He's your friend," she said, again almost too quiet to hear. "And he smells like Hashirama Trees." Ok, true enough. That still didn't explain—. "When Sasuke burned down half the house with his fireball, it was fixed the next day." Oh. "When Sano and Tetsu dug up the garden, it was fixed, too." Ah. "Trees aren't normally squares, but there's this one stump in the courtyard that—."

He held up a hand, covering his face with the other. With a loud sigh, he rubbed at the back of his neck, barely restraining himself from glaring at the ceiling. On the one hand, those were excellent reasons for her to know about Tenzou and the Mokuton. On the other, that she was able to put two and two together the way she had without outside assistance was still highly improbable. On another, smaller, disembodied hand, he really was an idiot sometimes, huh?

Whoops.

"Alrighty, then," he said, forcing himself to smile through the self-loathing. "That makes sense. Tsunade-hime," the princess turned her attention to him. "Agent Neko will seek you out on their own time. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

She sneered at him, crossing her arms under her breasts and adopting a wide, somewhat aggressive stance. "Don't get snippy with me, brat. I was your midwife, in case you've forgotten."

He had.

A new layer of sweat beaded on his skin even as Jiraiya snickered at his expense. "Aha, apologies, Tsunade-hime."

The legendary kunoichi huffed, clearly unimpressed by his deference. "You're chibi-chan's father, correct?"

"I am." It was an instant answer. Only once the words had left his tongue did he remember that, no, he technically wasn't.

The blonde woman turned to her teammate who suddenly looked like he, too, was considering his odds of escape. "And you're her grandfather."

The Toad Sage grimaced, as if the very idea pained him. "That's what the tests say."

Tsunade nodded, her expression clouding. "And her mother?"

Immediately, Kakashi straightened in his seat. "That is not something that should be discussed so casually." Especially not in present company.

She seemed to grasp his meaning, turning hazel eyes on the three genin. Naruto cocked his head, clearly not fully understanding everything that was going on. There was a light in Sasuke's eyes, the boy interested in the woman both Kakashi and his kid avoided mentioning. Hanako…

Yep. She was sad. Er. Sad_der_. He knew better than to bring up her mother, even all these years later. That was a job better left to Inoichi. As it was, he could just hear the rise in her heartrate, the steady quickening of her breathing signaling him to end this farse of a meeting sooner rather than later.

"I'm sure you'll be granted access to the necessary files if you ask, Tsunade-hime," he said coolly. "Jiraiya-sama got into them easily enough."

The older man hummed in agreement. "They should still be out. I asked the archivist to hold them so you could add her and the chibi to the Clan."

A growl welled up in his chest and he barely managed to force it back down before a sound escaped him. Jiraiya spoke as if it was a given, and Kakashi supposed it was. The Senju were much more important than the Hatake, after all, for all they were both founding Clans. The only family who could rival them were—.

"Wait a minute," Sasuke interjected with a growl of his own, standing between Hanako and her two kinsmen. "Why would Hana become a Senju?"

"Because _I'm_ a Senju." Jiraiya's tone was condescending and Kakashi winced internally, knowing full well how the boy took such treatment. It was the easiest way to get under his skin.

"And _she_ has a Sharingan, which means she's _at least_ half Uchiha. If she's joining any Clan, it's mine."

Hoo, boy. It was only by drawing on years of experience as an Anbu Agent that Kakashi managed to keep his patented smile on his face. The two elder Senju, on the other hand, erupted into a barrage of questions, their age and status granting them the freedom to behave as they wished.

"I don't get it," Naruto's voice broke through the cacophony, his face tilted in that Kushina way. "I thought Hana-chan was a Hatake."

Ah, that hurt. His insides were an oversensitive tangle of knots, his genin's words tugging on all the wrong strings—or maybe the right ones. Of course, this was nothing compared to the absolute acid poured on them by the sound of hiccoughing sobs.

Hanako was crying in earnest now, rubbing at her eyes with her one hand as fat tears rolled down her face, soaking the high collar of her borrowed shirt. The "adults" stopped their bickering and watched as their kinsman began to wail. Gone was the girl famous for her uncanny maturity. In her place stood a child.

His child.

He didn't even try to stop the growl that escaped him, then, the sound echoing unnaturally in the crowded office. Only Naruto reacted appropriately, the Fox influencing his instincts just enough to make communication easier, but the others were suitably cowed. He crossed the room with long, purposeful strides, crouching with his back to Jiraiya. It was the second time something he'd said had caused Hanako harm. Maybe some restrictions were in order.

Eye locked on his kids sobbing face, he reached out with his chakra and immediately began growling even louder. What the hell? Who? How? _Why_?

In a single movement, he scooped up his kid and stood to his full height. She was small, so it was easy to hook an arm under her knees and press her head against his shoulder, letting her take comfort in his familiar scent and the rumble of his growl. The scent of her tears almost overwhelmed him, as if the horrifying undercurrent of her chakra wasn't enough.

"We're done here."

He didn't wait for a response. In a single shunshin that would have made even Shisui proud, he removed his kid from the Hokage's office and brought her to the safety of their home. The Hatake compound was off limits to anyone not already keyed into the defensive seals—an addition made by his sensei, far too long ago. Those offensive Senju wouldn't be able to come anywhere near his kid without his express permission, and he had half a mind to forbid it, altogether.

With his free hand, he reached up and pulled down his mask, biting into his thumb with a canine. In a puff of smoke, the room was filled to brim with dogs. His dogs and hers both rushed toward him as he skillfully laid himself down on his back, his kid a heaving lump on his chest. Cold noses pressed themselves against exposed skin, high pitched whining expressing concern even as heavy paws pressed into bruises. Pretty soon, they were at the bottom of a dog pile, covered from head to toe in warm, squirming bodies.

His kid pressed her nose to the crook of his neck, shuddering with the force of her tears. Almost unconsciously, he wrapped her up in chakra, carefully removing his anger from it as he let the lightning run across the surface of what usually a calm lake. Now, it was agitated, a whirlpool in the making.

No. It wasn't agitated. Something was _agitating_ it. His heart sank all the way to his toes as he recognized the effects of a Curse Seal. He'd worked with Anko's long enough to know one when he felt it. His kid's was weaker than Orochimaru's former student's, but it was still there, stirring the waters from below as she struggled to keep the surface smooth.

He placed a hand on her head to keep it from shaking, pressing her closer to him. The puppy that had wormed its way under her arm yipped a complaint, but his growled response cut it short.

"It's alright, kiddo," he said, voice rough with emotion he rarely let himself express. "I've got you."

For some reason, that made things worse. Her somewhat calm breathing dissolved into ragged gasps.

"Do," he swallowed thickly. "Do you not want that?" Oof, that hurt to think about. He could barely even say it, tears welling up and making Obito's eye sting. "If—If you want, I can take you off the Hatake registry—."

"No!" She shook her head, rubbing her face against his chest and dislodging a grumbly Pakkun. "I—I want to be a Hatake." The weight of the dogs holding them down was suddenly nothing. "But I can't." And then it was too much.

"Why not, kiddo?" He asked tentatively, rubbing small circles on her back in a reflection of his turning mind. "I won't make you leave if you don't want to."

She shook her head again, whining en lieu of an answer. He didn't say anything, just laying on the ground and waiting for her to find her words. It wasn't so bad, being crushed underneath thirteen dogs and a child. It was actually rather comfy. Warm, too.

"I'm a liar."

The words were so soft, mumbled into his tear soaked flack jacket, that he almost missed them. Damn. Where was Inoichi when he needed him? This was not something Kakashi should be trusted to handle alone. He'd mess it up, mess _her_ up, and no one would ever forgive him—himself included.

"Kiddo," he began, slow and unsure. "I know. I know," he rambled on, desperate for momentum lest he stop there and ruin everything. "That you're from Kiri. Jiraiya told me when he figured it out. Knowing that, everything else makes sense. Your life would have been much harder if you'd told the truth." His jaw tightened as he recalled many, too many, conversations with Danzo, the reality of what her lies had saved her from kicking him in the gut. "Tell me, kiddo: will your lies hurt the village?"

She hesitated, but eventually shook her head.

"Well, then, that's all that matters, isn't it? All shinobi lie, Hana. It's in the job description. I do it all the time, you know that. I don't care," he continued, keeping his tone light despite the acrobatics happening in his stomach. "What your name used to be, or where you used to live. Right now, you're Hanako Hatake, and you're a shinobi of the Leaf. Most importantly," he freed his arm from under Bull's girth and tilted her head upward so he could look her in the eye. "You're my kid. Got it?"

She started crying again, but her tears smelled less of sorrow this time.


	48. Allies

**So, I'm gonna try _really_ hard to maintain a schedule until November, just to make triple sure I finish this arc of the story before I start Round Three. So, Mondays are gonna hopefully be Round One days. If I miss a day, please yell at me, lol. **

**I did the math, and this fic should reach 100k words in the next five or six chapters! I never planned for it to be this long! It was meant to be more of a playful thing, too, and I think some of the earlier chapters definitely reflect this. Maybe I'll go back and edit them during November while I'm not updating, just so this story receives some attention. **

* * *

Shikamaru looked at the shogi board, waiting for his opponent to make the move he knew she would. There were only a handful of options available to her, after all, and he knew her well enough to know her preferred method of attack. She was a defensive player, normally, but sometimes she thought she could trip him up by going for the kill. It hadn't worked in years, and even then she still hadn't won the game, but it served as an insight into her state of mind.

"Something's bothering you," he said as she finally moved her lance right into the trap he'd laid for it. "Just tell me."

She sighed through the mask on her face, the black fabric bringing out the red rings under her equally black eyes. She brought up her one hand—"don't you _dare_ mention it, Shikamaru" his mother's nagging voice resounded in his mind—to brush her brown hair out of her face. It was longer than she usually let it get and he filed away the possibility that she was growing it out. She placed her hand on Momiji's head, the dog accepting the affection stoically, brown eyes locked on Shikamaru's face like she was searching for something. It was always harder to tell with non-human faces, but he'd gotten pretty good with dogs.

"I have something to show you," she said quietly, gaze averted in an uncharacteristic display of nerves. "But I'm not sure if I should."

He leaned back, pulling his legs out of seiza and into a more comfortable crossed position. His mother would yell if she saw him like that, but Hanako didn't mind. "Then why bring it up? You're not the kind of person to do things without thinking about it first. Unless," he pressed his fingers together as he looked up at the sky, watching a fluffy white cloud drift past. "You're on a schedule of some kind. Whatever it is, it's obviously important, but you don't have the time to properly weight the pros and cons of getting other people involved. That you'd choose me, specifically, when my dad's your sensei means it's something he already knows about and you're defying orders to tell me or it's something he _can't _know about and I'm the next best thing. Going by your expression, I'm gonna say it's the latter. You told me you weren't sure," he said over her amused huff about him not even looking at her. "Which means it's something that will affect me beyond just showing whatever it is to me, maybe even negatively. But, you still need my help. So," he lowered his gaze, meeting her round eyes head on. "Here's what we're going to do. You're going to tell me the pros and cons of showing me whatever it is, and of _not_ showing me. Then we'll decide how to proceed. Deal?"

She shared a glance with her dog, telling him that the summons knew about whatever was going on. There was a reason she'd brought Momiji with her when she usually didn't, after all. In fact, she'd timed this visit almost too perfectly. His father was at the Hokage's office, working with _her_ father to try and keep the village in one piece(ish) after the invasion. His mother was out working with other women in the clan to feed those who'd lost their homes to the violence, leaving Shikamaru alone with his father's student with a stern warning not to upset her in any way as she was 'sensitive' and to help her however he could since she was 'injured'. So far, however, their day had gone exactly as any other might have, with the one exception of her using only her right hand.

And this weird conversation, of course.

She sighed, the sound laden with emotions he could probably name if given enough time. "That's the problem, Shikamaru. If I tell you, there's no going back."

"Just tell me," he insisted. "You've come this far, already."

"Yeah," she huffed a small, humorless laugh. "But if I stop now you'll be bothered by what it might have been, but you'll get over it. If I keep going, you won't."

She really wasn't helping her cause there. Honestly, he really wanted to know, now. His curiosity was piqued. It was too late to go back, no matter what he might say. She could leave right now and never speak to him again and he'd still dig up whatever it was on his own. It was just better to get it from her.

"Tell me."

She quirked a straight dark brow at him, making her feelings about that order perfectly clear. She still obeyed it though, so he dismissed the rebuttal he had planned to squash any further resistance.

"Pros of not knowing," she began, clearly still trying to convince him not to pursue the issue as her voice took on that annoying quality it had when she thought she knew best. "Include, but are not limited to: living a normal child's life, not committing treason, and plausible deniability for when _I _commit treason."

She paused. Ah, so she thought he would react to that. He smiled and waved a hand. "Go on. What are the cons?"

Her brows furrowed and he just knew her face scrunched under her mask. She was obviously not happy that he wanted her to continue. Too bad. "Cons of not knowing include, but are not limited to: not being included in my decision making, dealing with the consequences of my decisions, and probably hating me in the process."

He looked long and hard at his friend, a look she returned with equal aplomb. "So, you're basically saying that you're going to do something—something potentially treasonous—and you're going to do it with or without my help." He shook his head with a sigh of his own. "Well, now you _have_ to tell me."

"I haven't listed the pros and cons of knowing, yet."

He glared at her. "Oh, please. I'm not gonna let you go off and become an enemy of the state all on your own."

"It'll be a lot of work." He was tempted to take offense, but her serious expression told him she wasn't making a 'lazy' joke. "It'll be so much work, Shikamaru, and we'll be all alone for most of it."

He shrugged. "Better alone together than alone by yourself."

That was the thing that got to her. She slumped, the tension visibly leaving her as she looked at Momiji. The dog had sat quietly through the entire exchange, solidifying Shikamaru's theory that she knew what her human was talking about.

"I will keep watch," the summons said. "If someone comes, I will interrupt the genjutsu."

Hanako nodded sadly. "Thank you, 'Miji."

She turned back to Shikamaru then, eyes closed as she took in a deep breath, likely to calm her nerves. When she opened them, all his theories fell by the wayside as he stared into a red sharingan, two tomoe spinning in her iris. He'd seen Sasuke's, as well as pictures in textbooks during his academy days, but looking straight into one was an entirely different experience.

"This is a secret," Hanako was saying, voice trembling just enough for him to notice. "I know it doesn't look like it, at first, but it's a sharingan. Including you, there are only eight people in the village who know about it. I know keeping it a secret doesn't make sense yet, but it will after you see. I promise."

"It looks like a normal sharingan, to me," was the first thing out of his mouth, his thoughts spilling unfiltered from his mouth in exactly the way his father warned they might be when caught off gaurd. The way her eyes widened told him she wasn't expecting this and he took the moment presented by Momiji confirming that, yes, they were red, to regain control of himself. Her face crumpled, her hand reaching over to grasp at her left elbow.

"I see." Her voice was little more than a whisper and Shikamaru felt the first bits of panic set in as tears welled up in her eyes. "So that's what he meant about the color."

He didn't understand what was going on, at all, but he wasn't so invested in figuring it out that he'd ignore her obvious distress. Choji was always getting on his case for trampling people's feelings in his pursuit of answers.

Luckily, Hanako knew him well enough not to leave him hanging, even as she sniffled. "They were blue," she explained. "But it was probably because of the seal."

Ah. That made sense. With her arm gone, the seal array was incomplete and the seal itself unusable. It turned her eyes blue when she used it, he knew, so it affecting her dojutsu made perfect sense.

"It doesn't matter, though," she said with a shake of her head. "They work just fine whatever color they are."

"So, you're going to use them to put me in a genjutsu."

It wasn't a question, but she answered him like it was.

"Yes. That's the best way to pass on the information."

He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Alright. Do it, then."

Those red eyes met his and he was gone.

* * *

Hanako busied her hand by painstakingly braiding a flower crown as she waited for Shikamaru to process the information she'd dumped on him. They'd moved from the engawa to a wide open field with deer grazing along the edge of the forest. Shikamaru was laying on his back, hands behind his head as he watched the clouds roll by. To any random observer, he looked like he always did, but Hanako knew he was thinking long and hard about the things she'd shown him in the genjutsu.

It was much improved since her first try with Momiji. It looked far less like an anime and more like their actual lives which, while horrifying to look at, certainly helped press the fact that it was really a possible future.

She still felt awful for showing him, at all. Momiji was right that he was one of the only ones who could actually help. As much as she loved her sensei, he was too entrenched in the system to subvert it effectively. His first instinct would be to involve more people, to try and use the law to bring Danzo to justice, never mind the entire secret army the man had amassed. Besides, he wasn't a main character. Shikamaru was, and he was closely involved in the lives of the other main characters, and so could effectively enact change on the level that needed changing. He was still a child, though, only twelve years old. He didn't need to have her troubles dropped on him like that. She could have managed on her own, she was sure. She'd done it so far, and the things she'd changed looked pretty ok.

"You haven't told anyone else about this?"

She shook her head without looking at him, adding another wildflower to the crown. "No. Just Momiji, though she told a couple of the elders in the summoning realm."

The dog had poofed back to her world after making sure Shikamaru believed her. It was just them, now, and Hanako wished the summons had stayed, if only for the buffer she'd provide.

"Are you planning on telling anyone else?"

That she did pause her braiding for. "Yes."

"It wouldn't be one of the Kumo nin still in the village, would it?"

Curse the boy for being so smart.

"Yes. It's Killer Bee."

He hummed. "That's a good choice. The Eight Tails can probably let the other Bijuu know what's going on, then."

That had been her reasoning, too. It was why she'd risked so much to bring herself to the jinchuriki's attention in the first place. Of course, that was before her 'fight' with Orochimaru. She was sure he and his brother were growing impatient waiting for her to make good on her promise to explain, and she no longer had the convenient excuse of a hospital stay to keep them at bay.

"I was going to tell them tomorrow," she said, resuming her flower crown as if they were discussing the weather. "Naruto said he visits Gaara with him and offered to take me with him the next time."

It was…nice to talk about her plans with someone other than Momiji. Weird, but nice. The guilt was still clawing at her like a particularly ornery cat, but she felt much lighter now that she wasn't the only one stressing over the future of the village.

Was that bad? Was it wrong of her to take relief in sharing her burden? She was an adult—for all she really didn't feel like one very much, anymore. She was supposed to the one relied upon by children, not the other way around.

Shikamaru sat up, bits of grass and flowers falling in his wake as he propped his elbows up on bent knees.

"So," he said. "We need a long term plan, but first, Orochimaru. If he behaves like the one in your vision, then he'll be coming for you, soon."

Yeah…She was kind of hoping he wouldn't, since her arm was gone. The seal was the only thing she had that Sasuke didn't. Without it, she shouldn't be as enticing.

Unless he didn't know it was broken, now. He also knew about her sharingan, if she understood his cryptic words properly. He'd already bit her, so going after Sasuke at that point made no sense.

"Probably," she agreed with a sigh. "We should plan as if he will."

"Right." Shikamaru pushed himself up to his feet, reaching down to her. "I have an idea, then."

She let him pull her up, her flower crown discarded in the grass. Yes, this was why she told Shikamaru. Planning wasn't her strong suit, not when those plans immediately fell apart on contact with actual people. Shikamaru was much better at thinking on his feet and adapting to changing circumstances. The moment someone threw her a curve ball, she panicked and made bad decisions. i.e., her arm. That is, the lack there of.

"What do you have in mind?"

Shikamaru rubbed at the back of his neck. "How do you feel about telling someone else?"

Um, what?

"Do you think that's wise?" She asked after a long moment. "I don't know who else can help."

"I know you don't want to involve too many people," he said, gesturing for her to follow him as he began walking back to his house. "I understand that, I do, but there's only so much the two of us can actually hope to accomplish. If Orochimaru were the only thing we needed to guard against, we might be enough, but he isn't so we aren't. If we want to bring down the advisors and guard against the Akatsuki, we're going to need some more help. There's one person I can think of who will be a valuable asset. From what you showed me, she'll be able to do things we won't and is already in a good position to help us change things."

"Really?" Hanako ran through her memories, the once hazy images made sharp after a month of refining them for use in the genjutsu. "Who?"

"Sakura Haruno."

That brought her up short. She wouldn't have been Hanako's first choice, but…why was that? Sakura was incredibly smart, even now when she lacked many of the skills necessary to apply her intelligence. She would eventually surpass Tsunade as the greatest medic ninja in history and would master the Byakugou seal faster than anyone had before her. Her taijutsu would one day be among the most deadly in existence, and, most importantly, she would save so many lives during the war.

How many more could she save if she knew what to prepare for?

Hanako reached over and pinched herself, angry over how easily she'd dismissed the other girl. Had the negativity in the fandom really stuck with her through an entire rebirth? It wasn't Sakura's fault Kishimoto had no idea how to write female characters.

Sakura wasn't even a character, anymore. She was a real, human girl. Hanako still overlooked her, basing her opinion on a series whose canon was officially defunct—because of her actions, no less! Really, she should have known better.

Shikamaru said nothing, simply leading the way off the Nara compound as she gathered her thoughts.

"You're right," she finally agreed. "Sakura is perfect."

He threw a smug smirk at her over his shoulder, clearly expecting her agreement. "Great. So you'll show her?"

Hanako bit at her lip under her mask, the sharp point of her cuspid slicing through the delicate skin and flooding her mouth with the taste of blood. "If you think I should. You're right that she's in the perfect position to help us, but she's…innocent. In a way we aren't, you know?"

He grunted in reply. "I know what you mean, but she's a shinobi. She knows what that means."

She could only hope he was right. Standing in the road ahead of them, her red qipao dusty and smudged, was Sakura. She was helping with the rebuilding efforts, carrying buckets of material to a recently erected tower of scaffolding. Her short hair was pulled up into a little ponytail, her Konoha hitai-ate on proud display on her forehead. This was a different Sakura to the one she'd built in her head—indeed, to the one Kishimoto had built in his manga. Had there even been any word on what she was doing while Sasuke and Naruto were running around Tanzaku-gai? Not that Hanako could remember. It was an injustice, really. One she'd almost fed into.

"Yo, Sakura-chan." Shikamaru wasted no time, raising a hand in a wave to catch the other kunoichi's attention. "Can you spare a minute?"

She looked at them, green eyes wide with surprise. "Yeah, sure. Let me finish this, really quick."

"Take your time. I might have lied about the 'minute' part."

She looked confused but nodded, leaving Hanako and Shikamaru waiting for her in the road.

It wasn't too late, Hanako mused, once again worrying at her bottom lip. She could just go, leaving Shikamaru to deal with Sakura. He would respect her decision…maybe. What was to point in telling him if she didn't trust the decisions he made using the information she gave him? She already knew he was right about Sakura, so why was she being so hesitant?

She didn't have time to dwell on that. Sakura came up to them with a questioning smile.

"Can we go to your place?" Shikamaru asked, once again taking the lead. "This is a little sensitive."

Sakura's green eyes hardened, the expression not one Hanako had ever seen on the other girl. "Sure thing. Is there anyone else we need to get?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Nah, it's just us."

Hanako was confused, but only for a moment. She'd completely forgotten that, while she was busy biting off more than she could chew, Shikamaru and Sakura had both been sent after Gaara and Sasuke. Sakura had experience taking orders from Shikamaru and likely thought this was a similar situation, if her tense posture was anything to go by.

Well, she wasn't wrong.

Sakura's home was small, but Hanako knew her expectations were a little skewed from living in a clan compound for the last five years. It was likely average sized, if not a bit big, but it felt small. Hanako left her boots in the genkan and followed the other girl up a narrow flight of stairs. Sakura let them into her room with little hesitation, closing the door behind them with a sigh.

"So," she said, looking from Hanako to Shikamaru with narrowed eyes. "What's going on? You guys rarely hang out in public, so it must be important."

Did they really? Huh. She hadn't noticed.

"It is." Shikamaru leaned against a wall, pressing his fingertips together in that familiar thinking pose of his. "Sakura-chan, you're the only one who can help us with this—."

"Wait a minute," Hanako cut him off. "You should at least give her a choice!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Hanako, we don't have the luxury of letting her choose."

"Well, _make_ the luxury," she demanded, knowing full well that didn't really make sense. "There's no point in deposing a tyrant if we just become one ourselves."

He opened his mouth to respond and Hanako wished they'd taken the time to talk this out _before_ looking for Sakura. At least then, she might have had a chance of winning.

"Hold on," the kunoichi in question said, pink brows furrowed. "What's going on."

"Nothing that needs immediate attention," Hanako assured her, tossing a glare at Shikamaru which he blatantly ignored. "It's not an emergency, don't worry."

That certainly made a difference, the tension flowing from her body. "Ok, that's good. So, what do you need me for?"

"We have information which can help us prevent future attacks on the village." Shikamaru was really trying to edge her out of this, wasn't he? "We can't trust just anyone with it, though, and you're in the perfect position to help."

"This is dangerous information," Hanako interjected. "Acting on it will be dangerous and might even mark you a traitor to the village. You _are_ the best person for the job, but you deserve the right to choose whether or not you take it."

"It'll be much easier with you than without," Shikamaru added. "But, I guess we can manage on our own, if we have to."

Sakura sat on the edge of her bed, the mattress sinking beneath her weight. "Wait, wait, wait. Let me see if I have this right. You have information that will help protect the village but using it will make you traitors? How does that work?"

"We can't tell you," Shikamaru answered before Hanako could. "If you decide not to help us, then you can honestly say you didn't know what we were planning when the time comes."

Sakura pulled her hair loose from its ponytail, pink locks falling straight to her chin. "So, you want me to say I'll help you without knowing what you want me to do? Shikamaru-kun, you're supposed to be smart."

He huffed, looking away with a pout. Hanako laughed softly at his expense before turning to Sakura.

"I know it's weird, Sakura-chan," she said with an apologetic smile, hoping the expression came across despite her mask. "And I don't know why he's being such a butt about it. He was in the same position not half an hour ago, before I told him."

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, leveling a glare at Hanako. "Tell me this: will not knowing be worse than knowing?"

Well, then. She looked over at Shikamaru who was giving Sakura a look of his own.

"It depends," she answered honestly. "If you know, then you'll be able to plan for things. If you don't, then you'll be reacting to them, instead. Either way, the things will happen, though."

The look on Sakura's face told her exactly what she thought about that lack luster explanation.

"Well, obviously, I want to know then."

Right.

"Even if you end up being called a traitor? Even if the village turns its back on you?"

Sakura tilted her head back as she considered this. "It's not like I'm turning my back on the village, though, right?"

"No," Shikamaru agreed firmly. "The exact opposite."

Sakura nodded. "Then I want to know. Tell me."

Again, Hanako glanced at Shikamaru, the boy's expression likely as amused as hers was.

"Alright," she said, closing her eyes and activating her sharingan. "But you have to keep this a secret."


	49. Inside Job

**I did it! I uploaded on time! It's a miracle!**

* * *

Gaara kept his eyes trained on the door. The Anbu guards had escorted him and his siblings into the meeting room at the same time they always did, saying nothing as they lead them from their cells in the bowels of Konoha's Intelligence department. It was…strange, to say the least. When the masked shinobi had arrived after Killer Bee beat the Ichibi into submission, he had fully expected to die. His siblings, too, if their grim expressions were anything to go by. Suna certainly wouldn't have spared any lives, had Konoha invaded them. So, naturally, he was confused when, instead of having his bijuu ripped from him as spoils of war, he was taken to a cell and treated by a medic nin. Sure, he was still a prisoner, but he was alive. He was fed, watered, and clothed. His siblings, too. He was even allowed to see the very people he'd tried to kill, his fellow jinchuriki treating him kindly as though they had always been friends.

Friends.

Yes, they were his friends, weren't they? Well, Naruto was. Killer Bee was more of a…senpai? Yes, a senpai, better versed in navigating life as a host for a demon and more than willing to pass on his wisdom. That, too, was strange. Knowing others like him made him feel both less and more alone. They could understand him, to a certain degree, but Killer Bee was on good terms with the hachibi and Naruto had only ever spoken with the kyuubi once. Neither of them knew what it was like to be tortured by their beasts as he was.

It didn't help that mother—_Shukaku_, not mother, never mother—insisted on continuing to torture him.

**There's a reason they only send the jinchuriki,**the bijuu hissed, words caressing Gaara's mind in all the wrong ways. **They don't trust you. They're tricking you into thinking they care, that they think you're human, but the only ones who visit are the ones who can subdue you. Where's that little girlfriend of yours, hmm? Why hasn't **_**she**_** come by?**

Because he was a potentially hostile jinchuriki who could very easily kill her. It was such an obvious answer, and the fact that it came to him so easily made it hurt all the more. There were a million reasons why Hanako wouldn't come to see him—couldn't, even. He had no idea what had happened to her after he left her at the arena. Naruto had looked rather green when he asked after her, but ultimately didn't answer, leaving the older genin to think up all manner of horrible fates which might have befallen his friend. He knew Orochimaru was targeting her, for whatever reason, and that snake was foul enough to deter even the ichibi. He didn't even want to imagine what he might have done to her, if he managed to find her.

The door opened, revealing the tall, heavily muscled frame of Killer Bee. The Kumo nin was…an interesting person. Gaara had never met anyone like him before, and he doubted he ever would again. He still wasn't quite over the shock of being punched back into his human form.

"Yo, my cute little kouhai," the large man said with rhythm, moving his hands in strange gestures. "I've come to chill and say 'hi'!"

Kankuro snorted, amused as he always was by the older shinobi's rhymes. Temari only watched him with nervous green eyes, her mouth set in a grim line as her hands fidgeted with her belt, where her kunai pouch would have been.

"Hello," Gaara said softly, glad for the silence in his head. Shukaku seemed rather cowed by his siblings. "It's good to see you again, Killer Bee-san."

Killer Bee waved a hand in dismissal, the motion as large and over the top as he was. "No, no, no! That's gotta go! Call me senpai or you'll make me cry!" His face warped into a caricature of sadness, the expression horrifying in its exaggeration.

Ah. No.

Before Gaara could muster the courage to reject the older jinchuriki's unwelcome overture, the door opened again.

"Hey, Gaara! Guess who came with me!"

Naruto was just as loud as Killer Bee, and Gaara had begun to wonder if that was simply a common trait among the stronger jinchuriki. They were eight and nine, after all, and their host status was the only thing they had in common—although, Naruto's coloration _was_ closer to what one would expect from a Kumo nin, with his golden hair and sun tanned skin. Gaara looked past the hachibi to the doorway where Naruto stood with a wide grin on his face, hands splayed as he presented his companion.

Gaara took an unconscious step forward. "Hanako."

She looked well, at first glance, her dark hair pulled away from her masked face in a short ponytail. Upon a second look, however, he realized exactly why she hadn't come to see him.

"Damn, kid," Kankuro said, unwittingly voicing his brother's thoughts. "That looks bad."

She looked down at her left arm, the appendage half the length it was when Gaara last saw her. The long sleeve of her shirt was sewn shut, hiding the actual injury from view, but somehow it just made her missing limb that much more obvious. Hanako shrugged, gesturing with her arm like it was whole.

"Oh, this? It looks worse than it is, believe me."

"Can you even be a shinobi with an injury like that?" Temari's question rang like a bell in Gaara's mind, his eyes never leaving the straight edge of Hanako's injury.

Naruto took vocal offense on his friend's behalf. "Of course, she can! Hana-chan can do one handed jutsus, believe it!"

Gaara's eye snapped from Hanako's arm to her eyes, the tentative brush of her chakra against his snapping him back to the present. Her brows were furrowed as she met his gaze, her night black eyes boring into him. He reached back with his own chakra, overwhelmed with relief. He'd expected her to reject him. It was shameful, but he had. Because of him—and his entire village—she'd received a potentially career ending injury, had been targeted by a rogue ninja of legendary strength, and likely lost friends in the carnage. She had no reason to reach out to him like she had before, for all she'd made it clear she didn't care about the demon inside him. She was friends with Naruto after all, but he was her comrade and Gaara…

Gaara was the enemy.

An enemy she reached out to, all the same. The cool water of her chakra ran long his burning sand, the sensation as calming as he remembered it, but with a major exception. There was something different about her chakra. The gentle river he'd first encountered on the run to Konoha had lost some of its tranquility, the barest hints of whitewater making themselves known. The heavy melancholy which he'd come to associate with her was now accompanied by an anger which agitated her chakra. Despite that, he knew for a fact that she was happy to see him. That certainty suffused him with warmth, heat spreading out from his core and burning his skin.

"Gaara," she said, her voice as soft as her chakra. "I'm glad you're alright."

He said nothing, his tongue uncooperative as he tried to reply. Luckily, his sister still had things to say.

"I'm surprised they let you in here," Temari said with a raised brow, her arms crossed over her chest in the way Gaara knew meant she was preparing for a fight. "Even if we weren't part of the invasion force, our families aren't exactly on good terms."

Hanako looked at Temari the same way she had Kankuro when he brought up their family histories the day they met. Gaara could feel her exasperation, the underlying anger amplifying it beyond what he expected.

"Kakashi-sensei's Hokage now," Naruto answered, surprising the Suna genin with his forthright response. "So Hana-chan can do whatever she want!"

Hanako snorted, hiding her masked face behind her hand as she stifled a laugh. "That's not how it works, Naru-nii."

The youngest jinchuriki smiled widely and crossed his arms behind his head. "It should be! Besides, Gaara's your friend, so it's not like he'll hurt you or anything."

Of course, he wouldn't. He wasn't even sure he was capable of it, anymore. Maybe, before meeting Killer Bee and Naruto, when Shukaku's voice had greater sway on his mind, but now…

The very idea was abhorrent.

"This is cute, and you kids are a hoot," Killer Bee interrupted, reminding everyone he was in the room—though how a man that size could fade into the background was a mystery. He was looking at Hanako, his expression oddly serious. "But this situation begs some serious questions. You've got a debt, kid, which you can't just forget, kid, and I won't make no threat, kid, but I need you to sweat, kid, cause my bro's going out of his head, kid, and there's only so much I can do before somebody ends up dead, you dig?"

Gaara wasn't the only one staring up at the Kumo nin in confusion, but Hanako seemed to understand him…somehow.

"Of course," she said, her amusement rippling through Gaara as she nodded. "That's actually one of the reasons I came." Her dark eyes bounced from the Anbu guards back to the jinchuriki, a strange emotion reaching Gaara through their entangled chakras. "I don't suppose you can give me a moment to prepare?"

It was hard to read Killer Bee's expression past the sunglasses, but something changed in the air. He opened his mouth to reply.

Gaara jumped in his skin as an alarm began sounding, the high pitched wailing grating his ears. The Anbu around them leapt into defensive positions, clearly caught by surprise. Temari and Kankuro stood back to back, carefully keeping their postures both alert and submissive, ready to accept arrest but also anticipating violence. Naruto held his hands to his ears, loudly demanding an explanation from the agents who looked ready to pounce on any of them.

Hanako stood stock still, her gaze still locked on Killer Bee's.

"Go on, git," the eldest jinchuriki told the Anbu. "You can lock us in, believe it!"

The Anbu hesitated for a moment before disappearing in a shunshin, leaving three jinchuriki alone with each other.

Were…were they stupid?

The shrill alarm was still blaring, making it hard to think. Shukaku was coiling in on himself in agitation, hissing angrily in the corners of Gaara's mind. Bone chilling fear gripped his soul as he was forced to consider the very real possibility that he would lose control again. Killer Bee was there, sure, but so were his siblings, Naruto, and Hanako. They would all be hurt in the crossfire if he lost it in such a small space. He was glad, then, that his sand had been confiscated. He was also terrified, as without it he could only show his true face to the world around him, his terror likely written across it for all to see.

"So," Killer Bee said as he sank into a crouch, staring head on at Hanako who had yet to react to anything, her chakra frighteningly still. "You gonna explain, or have you got some other aim?"

Hanako's chakra retreated, leaving Gaara bereft. He watched as she stood straighter, her arms crossing behind her back. The angry alarm didn't seem to be affecting her at all, for all her hearing was probably sharper than any of theirs.

"We have approximately half an hour before the alarm shuts off, probably less before they realize we're down here alone. What I'm going to show you is of vital importance, and the only reason I'm showing it to you at all is because Gyuuki-sama can disseminate the information to the other bijuu. They _must_ be made aware of this."

Gaara looked over at Naruto, but the boy wasn't looking at them. Neither were Temari or Kankuro. With a jolt, he realized there was a thin layer of genjutsu over the room. Was that why the Anbu had left them so easily? Could the others even hear the conversation between the girl and the jinchuriki? Why was he not also being affected? Surely it wasn't on purpose.

Killer Bee smirked. "That's not something I can say, he does things his own way."

Hanako laughed, the sound not at all amused. "I trust he'll see things _my _way once this is done. Gaara," she turned to look at him, surprising him. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but I need to ask a favor. I know this doesn't make any sense, but I promise this will help you, too. Please, can you keep watch for us? And," she looked away, suddenly looking as small and afraid as she probably should, given their circumstances. "Can you keep this a secret?"

"Yes." He didn't even need to think about it. Whatever was going on, it was important enough for her to cast a genjutsu on not just her friend, but her own village's Anbu agents. She'd pulled her chakra away, but he didn't need its assurance to know she wasn't lying to him. She wouldn't lie to him. Not Hanako.

She smiled, her mask doing nothing to hide her bemusement. "Thank you, Gaara. I'm glad we're friends."

Friends.

Yes, they were friends.

She turned away and closed her eyes. When she opened them, the pitch black had been replaced by bloody red, the signature tomoe of the Sharingan twirling in the iris. Had he not fought Sasuke Uchiha, he might not have recognized them so easily.

**Impossible, **Shukaku spat, pressing up against Gaara's mind in a painful display of panic. **Those eyes are cursed! Don't look at them, boy, they'll enslave us! **

The fear which gripped him through Shukaku didn't seem to affect Killer Bee the same way, though he did avert his gaze. "That's a dangerous secret. Should you be trusting us to keep it?"

"I don't have time to worry about that," she said sharply. "And neither do you. Please, Killer Bee. I know it's hard to trust the eyes that hurt Kurama so badly, but lives are at stake here. _Yugito's_ life is at stake."

"You—!" He cut himself off and Gaara watched as his face twisted this way and that, probably in response to whatever the hachibi was saying. "Fine!" He said after too long a moment, pointing a thick finger at her face. "But you'd better not be lyin'!"

"Oh, I promise," Hanako replied, almost breathless. "This is the most honest I've been in a long time."

Killer Bee pulled off his sunglasses, revealing dark eyes which unfocused as the sharingan took hold. Gaara watched them, uncertain of how to proceed.

**She'll betray you,** Shukaku hissed. **Those eyes are evil. Anyone who has them is a threat! I don't care how nice she's pretending to be, she'll be the death of you if you let her!**

Despite himself, Gaara believed it. He couldn't bring himself to be upset about it, though.


	50. Family Feud

**This one's a little different. I'm not sure I like it, but it served its purpose. I updated on time again, too! Whoo! Regular updates make my chapters shorter though ( ´•̥̥̥ᐞ•̥̥̥`)**

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It was a sunny day in Konoha. Shinobi leapt from roof to roof, rushing to fulfil some duty or another as civilians and the odd unlucky team of genin bustled below them, working to rebuild the Village after the failed invasion. People were in high spirits despite the destruction. Children were running about without supervision, their parents trusting the shinobi above them to alert them to any danger.

The Village itself was entirely too big to bear such a meager title, its population easily large enough to rival many prominent cities within the Land of Fire. Its outward growth limited by an ancient wall, its buildings extended upward into leaning towers connected by taut wire bridges and strategically placed scaffolding. The walls were painted all manner of obnoxious colors, bright yellows and blues stinging the eyes of unprepared visitors, giant murals taking more space than they ought. Above it all, carved into the face of the mountain which protected the Village's rear, the faces of its leaders watched unseeing, their expressions solemn and unchanging.

Two figures alighted atop one of the taller apartment buildings, its roof, like all the others, flat for expedited shinobi travel. To outside observers, it appeared to be the end of a chase, likely between teacher and student. The child turned to the adult, shoulder length brown hair and long green haori whipping about with the force of the movement. Her face was halfway obscured by a mask not unlike the current Village leader's, leaving only round black eyes to express her displeasure.

"What do you want?" She demanded, her voice confined to the rooftop despite its volume by liberally applied seals cleverly hidden from view. She gestured angrily with one hand, the other missing entirely. It was a tragic injury in one so young, but not wholly unexpected for a shinobi. Many had suffered similar injuries during the invasion, and even more had lost their lives.

The adult who'd followed her crossed his arms over his chest, his own haori a bright, eyecatching red, even in the colorful Village. Red was reserved for emergencies, marking urgent communications and civilian bunkers. His white hair, too, was odd. Falling down his back in a tail which nearly brushed his ankles, its sheer length marked him as incredibly skilled, as even kunoichi rarely wore their hair past their shoulders for fear of an enemy using it against them. His age was another indicator of his strength. Rarely did a shinobi live long enough for lines to mar their face.

The lines on his deepened as he scowled. "Don't give me that, chibi. You know damned well what."

She mimicked his stance, crossing her arms despite her missing limb. "Clearly, I don't!"

"I designed the seals in T&I myself, chibi! I know exactly the level of skill needed to trigger the reaction they had yesterday, and you're the only person in the village besides me who would even know where to begin!"

"That you know of," she returned, shaking her head. "Just because I'm the only one who thought to approach you about it—."

"Don't try to foist this off onto someone else, brat!" He pointed one large finger at her, anger reddening his face. "You spent the lockdown in a room with Kumo's jinchuriki and the minute it was lifted he started pushing his brother to make reparations to the Hyuuga Clan."

"And?" She turned away from him, her one hand twisting dismissively. "That's your evidence? For all you know he was always gonna do that!"

"Don't lie to me!"

The girl turned back to the man, her eyes wide and almost afraid. He, too, seemed surprised by his outburst, though he hid it well. He took a deep breath, putting on a show of calming himself.

"Listen to me, chibi. Your grandmother was from Kiri, and it stands to reason that both you and your mother were born there, as well. You've managed to situate yourself as the heir to one of Konoha's founding clans, have befriended not one, but two jinchuriki—one of which attacked the Village—and have been confirmed as having the ear of a third. Your sensei is the Jounin Commander, and your relationship with the Last Uchiha is almost too close for comfort. Can you at least say you understand why all of that would be cause for concern?"

Her face crumpled, tears welling in her already red rimmed eyes. "W-what? I-I haven't done anything wrong!"

The man's scowl deepened. "Chibi, I know for a fact that you tampered with the seals in T&I. The Anbu agents who left you alone with three jinchuriki showed signs of acting while under a genjutsu, and the surveillance seals for that room are all utterly unsalvageable. Even excluding all that," he held up a hand, counting down on his fingers as he spoke. "You knew about Agent Neko, about Naruto's jinchuriki status and the threat posed to him by Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki despite having zero contact with anyone who'd encountered them, about Kabuto Yakushi's allegiance to Orochimaru, _and_ about Orochimaru's experiments involving the mokuton! And these are just the secrets you've revealed in the last week!"

Throughout his litany, the visible portion of the girl's face grew increasingly paler, the freckles on her skin and the vivid red rings around her eyes standing out in stark contrast. Her one hand clutched at the black fabric of her shirt with a white knuckled grip.

"There's only so much I can excuse, chibi," the man continued, either unaware of or ignoring her growing distress. "Being a genius is one thing, actively disseminating the information you find is another entirely."

"But I," her voice was small and wavering, tears spilling over as she looked up at the man imploringly. "I didn't do anything."

"Didn't you? Then you won't mind telling me exactly what happened when the alarms went off in T&I, now will you?"

"I already told Yamanaka-sama what happened," she insisted almost angrily. "You know that!"

"And I'm sure your story won't be any different if you tell it again."

She growled. Really growled. The sound filled the air, rolling with the promise of violence.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Her voice was rough, edged by inhuman emotion. "Every time, you just-just pick on me! Is it fun? Do you get some kind of kick out of messing with me?"

The old man's face went slack in surprise, his body losing some of its aggressive tension. "What? Chibi that's—no! Where'd you even get that idea?"

"Is it because we're related, then?" Her expression was deathly serious as she looked up at him, taking a step forward with a clenched fist. "Do you think you can do all of this because we're family? That there won't be any repercussions for treating me this way?"

"Chibi, I don't—."

"Because this isn't fair! I know you know that! So what if my mom was from Kiri? _You're _the one who made her! Why am I the one being suspected over it? It's not my fault!"

The man watched, gaping in shock, as she rubbed at her face with her one hand, sniffling pitifully. She pulled down the fabric of her mask, revealing a pointed chin and quivering lips. The skin there was paler, with fewer freckles, indicating she wore her mask more often than not.

"It's not my fault," she repeated, sharp double canines catching the light as she bared them at the much taller man. "I didn't do _anything wrong!_"

He held up his hands, dark eyes wide as he tried to placate her. "Easy, chibi. Let's not get riled up."

"No!" She pointed her finger up at him, face twisted by an angry scowl. "You don't get to do that! You're the one leveling baseless accusations at me! I'm allowed to be upset about that!"

"They aren't baseless!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, seething with frustration. "Look me in the eye and tell me I have no reason to pursue this. You're smart enough to know how bad it all looks, chibi."

"And you're smart enough to know that chasing down a _literal child_ is _not_ the way to go about this!"

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Let out a hissing breath between clenched teeth. "Chibi, the moment you put on that headband, you became an adult."

"I was _seven_!"

"That's the life you signed up for—."

"No, it isn't! I didn't _choose_ to be a shinobi! The council chose for me! Like it does for every convenient orphan in this village!"

"Chibi," his tone was low and serious. "Mind your words."

"Or what? I'll disappear? You'd like that, wouldn't you? It'd solve all your problems if I just vanished."

"That's enough!"

They stood in silence, a breeze tugging at their hair. Someone laughed on the streets below, the sound carrying up to the rooftops along with the rhythmic banging of hammers and idle civilian chatter. The shinobi stared at each other, their anger palpable as it filled the air between them, twisting and snapping as their chakra demanded release.

"Go away."

He dropped his scowl, face going slack in surprise. "Chibi—."

"Go away!" Her expression was thunderous. "I don't know what I did to make you hate me, and I don't even care, anymore. Just go away and leave me alone!"

He stared at her, open mouthed. Then, he ran a hand down his face, dragging at skin in an exaggerated display of irritation.

"Fine. We'll continue this once you've calmed down."

He disappeared, leaving the girl alone on the rooftop as he went who knew where. Without him, she sagged, the tension visibly draining from her frail body. She sniffed loudly and rubbed at her face, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her haori.

In an instant, her hackles were back up, dark eyes dancing to and fro as she suddenly found herself surrounded. Her hand reached into the kunai pouch fastened to her thigh, but a shuriken embedded itself in the concrete by her boot, halting her movements.

"Ah ah ah~," one of the newcomers crooned. "None of that."

Four people stood around her in a square formation, all of them taller than her by significant margins. They wore variations of the same outfit, a white tunic tied in place by an oversized purple rope.

One of them, the only woman, sniffed loudly and tossed a lock of red hair from her face. "_This _is the one Orochimaru-sama sent us to get? She's a cripple."

"Shut up, Tayuya,"another scolded, light glancing off his Oto hitai-ate as he adjusted it with one of his six hands. "It's not our place to question him. This little cripple has something he wants."

She shifted her weight and raised her injured arm between them. "Awfully bold of you, attacking in broad daylight."

The silver haired one laughed at her expense, his voice surprisingly deep. "Quit your babbling, weakling. That old man didn't even notice we were here. What makes you think anyone else will?"

"Sakon."

"Tch."

The one with six arms was clearly the leader and he stepped toward the girl, grin widening as she stepped back in tandem. "Kabuto said you'd probably know why we're here, though it seems like that's a running theme with you. Feel like sharing, chibi-chan?"

Her eyes narrowed, gaze jumping from him to the woman. If she were a dog, her ears would have swiveled toward the two men behind her. "You're the Sound Four, one for each of the cardinal directions; North, South, East, West. You've brought me an offer from Orochimaru."

The group stilled, their easy confidence shaken.

"Holy…Kabuto was right." The largest one clenched his teeth and pressed his hands together in preparation for combat. "We can't let her get away."

"Hold, Jirobou," the leader interjected, his grin still in place as he stepped even closer to his target. "So," he asked her. "If you know what we're here for, you must have an answer, right?"

Her lips thinned into a grim line, straight brows furrowing. "Everything I do, I do for the good of the world."

The leader arched a brow. "The world? Not the Village?"

She bared her sharp teeth in a pale facsimile of a smile. "The Village is in the world, isn't it?"

"So that's a no."

"Yeah, it's a no."

He sighed dramatically, shrugging with all six arms. "That's too bad. You would have been an interesting comrade." His expression closed off, all signs of levity gone. "Get her."


	51. TMI

**This chapter is a whole week and a half late! I'm so sorry! I was grading midterms and then I had to finish some paperwork for my graduation next semester. The next chapter will be posted on Monday! I promise! Look forward to Kiba's POV!**

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Eight genin stood side by side in front of their commanding officer, taking up most of the room in the not unsizeable office. Sitting in the highbacked chair was Kakashi Hatake, one of the most legendary shinobi of his generation. To his right stood Shikaku Nara, Konoha's Jounin Commander, the scars on his face pulling at the corners of his mouth and giving him a permanent frown. On the left stood two of the most powerful shinobi in history, two thirds of the Legendary Sanin, the Slug Sage Tsunade and the Toad Sage Jiraiya. They did not look pleased to be there, but they weren't complaining, either, a sign of complicity if not acceptance.

In the two rows of chairs in front of the large, imposing desk sat the shinobi council, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane on one side and Danzo Shimura on the other, their aged faces grim.

Neji wasn't sure why he'd been called to the Hokage's office, but he knew better than to speak out of turn. While he was no longer certain about…certainty and all it entailed, instincts long honed by a place of subservience stilled his tongue.

The second son of the Inuzuka Matriarch had no such qualms.

"What's going on?" He demanded loudly, the dog on his head yipping in agreement. "Are we getting our promotions?"

That was impossible. Neji had lost his match against _Naruto_ of all people, and the Inuzuka hadn't even made it to the finals. Nor had either the Yamanaka heiress or her pink haired friend, but they were both present, as well. He wasn't present for the Aburame heir's fight, but he was sure that the invasion made it difficult to award anyone a promotion.

"Mah," Hatake sighed, his clan's verbal tick dripping with a nonchalance cultivated for more than a decade. "_One _of you is getting promoted. Shimakaru, congrats."

The Nara heir bowed his head to the sitting Kage, not even acknowledging his father's proud smile. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Hatake made a show of grimacing—an impressive feat considering his mask—and waved the boy's thanks away. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. This is just a formality anyway. I'm officially giving you your first assignment as a chunin. You'll—." He cut himself off, pinching at the bridge of your nose and taking audibly deep breaths. "You'll be in charge of a task force meant to retrieve Hanako Hatake. The people you asked for are here, so have at it." Quite suddenly, he seemed almost haggard, his head held up by one hand.

"Wait, what happened to Hana?" Naruto demanded, speaking up for the first time. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet up to that point, but he voiced the question on everyone's minds. "I saw her yesterday!"

Shikamaru came to stand before the gathered genin, his arms folded behind a straight back. It was the most alert Neji had ever seen the young Nara, and it rang all manner of alarm bells. "Yesterday, sometime after noon, Hanako Hatake was abducted from Konoha. We know this," he continued, talking over the extremely vocal outrage that statement inspired. "Because her summons have been blocked. That is an S ranked forbidden technique and, while other nations may have been able to create something similar, the only official version is recorded in Konoha's vaults. Given their previous interactions, I believe it is safe to assume that Orochimaru had a hand in her disappearance. You seven are among my choices for a retrieval team."

"Wait a minute," the Inuzuka demanded, a growl roughening his voice. "I'm all for rescuing Hanako-chan, but what are a bunch of genin supposed to do against _Orochimaru_?"

"I agree. Why? Because even the Hokage fell to him. A team of genin, no matter how large, will be eradicated."

The Inuzuka and the Aburame were teammates, so their shared concern made sense, for all they rarely got along. Neji might have voiced a similar question, were he not completely stuck on the news Hanako had gone missing.

He hadn't seen her since the final exam. She'd made her disapproval of his treatment of Hinata-sama quite clear during the preliminaries, and he was too busy training during the month in between to seek her out—as he was sure she'd been, as well. As it stood, he hadn't seen her since the invasion, but he'd received no word to indicate she'd been hurt. Certainly not that she'd encountered one of the most dangerous missing nin of their time.

"We're not going to fight Orochimaru," the Nara was saying, rolling his shoulders in a way much more characteristic of his clan. "Jiraiya-sama, you were the last one to see her before she was taken. Would you like to explain?"

The legendary sage recoiled as though struck, the lines on his face deepening as he scowled. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms, sniffing disdainfully as a mask quickly took shape over his true emotions.

"The chibi and I were having a conversation on one of the rooftops—I can show you which one, if you want—and I sensed four chakra signatures of high genin or low chunin rank. I figured it was a bunch of her little friends and I left." He rolled broad shoulders, seemingly unconcerned. "I didn't exactly go out of my way to look at them, you know. It's bad form."

It certainly was, but to overlook them to that degree was—.

"So, we can fight them!" The Inuzuka's enthusiasm was clearly contagious, a nervous energy filling the air as the other genin began shifting their weight. "What are we waiting for, then? The longer we wait, the farther away she gets!"

The newly promoted chunin didn't even react to his classmate's rash words, his expression completely unchanged. Neji found himself focusing on the younger shinobi. They were in the Academy at the same time, though in different years, and he was of course aware of the people around Hinata-sama, but they'd never really interacted. As far as he could tell, this Nara was much like all the others, a walking stereotype of lazy intellect. Looking at him now, there was an iron in his stance that hadn't been there when he'd last seen him, just before the final round of the Chunin Exams. Whatever had happened during the invasion to warrant his promotion, it had a tangible effect.

"Kiba, calm down," the Yamanaka heiress hmphed over crossed arms. "We can't just go rushing after Orochimaru's henchmen without a plan! Shut up and listen for a change!"

The Inuzuka growled in response, the Yamanaka growling back with her human voice in an unseemly display. Hinata-sama would never behave so recklessly. Hiashi-sama would never permit it.

The Nara heir chose that moment to speak. "I have a plan, but I'm still waiting for the last members of our team to arrive."

Danzo Shimura pounded his cane on the floor, expressing his anger with the sharp sound. The exposed portions of his face were twisted in a frown. His fellow council members also wore sour expressions, clearly unhappy about something.

"Your petition was overruled," he said sharply. "You will cease this."

It was obvious that whatever it was had already been discussed. Neji could commend the Nara's attempt at reopening a closed topic. Brining one up again in front of guests or other influential members of the clan was one way Hyuuga clansmen often fought to have their way without actually fighting. Unfortunately for the Nara, the council had no reason to give him face.

"Mah," Hatake drawled. "I've overruled your overruling. They'll be here shortly."

"You cannot!" Utatane gasped. "You are only an interim Hokage, Hatake-kun. To use your power like this is a usurpation!"

The man in the Hokage's chair cocked his head, somehow expressing a sugary fake smile with only one eye. His voice was light and airy, the tone in direct contrast to his words.

"Yep~. That's exactly what it is." He leaned forward, hands folded on the desk where everyone could see them. This did nothing to weaken the distinct sense of impending violence rolling off him in waves. "I was elected to serve as Hokage by the Clan Heads as an emergency measure in the wake of invasion and a continued foreign presence. Now, I'm perfectly aware that they all probably expected me to step down the instant I could and under different circumstances they would have been right. Now, it just so happens that my daughter has been taken and the esteemed council dares to think they can keep me from using every available resource to retrieve her. So, naturally, my only recourse is to replace the council."

"What are you saying?" Homura demanded. "These issues are completely unrelated!"

"Oh, by they're not. You see," Hatake gestured to a pile of papers sitting neatly by the corner of the desk. "The Lord Third was an old man. He knew he'd eventually have to retire and he made a few preparations for it to ease the transition for his successor. While it's unfortunate that I gained this position the way I did, nevertheless, I am the one in the chair. As such, in accordance with a law you yourselves allowed to be passed, I am required to form a new council manned by shinobi from my father's generation. Which you are not." He turned to the two Sannin beside him. "But you are. Tell me, elders, do you accept the position?"

This did not seem like something genin should be witnessing. Neji glanced surreptitiously at his comrades and found most of them to be expressing some amount of discomfort or confusion. The only exceptions were the Aburame, who never expressed much of anything, the Nara, and Naruto's kunoichi teammate. It was entirely possible that the Nara—both of them—were already aware of Hatak'es plans regarding the council, but a civilian born girl shouldn't have been so calm in the face of the dirty dealings of their government. It was only years of training which kept Neji's own uncertainty from his face, his eyes flitting from the Hokage and his newly appointed advisors to the old council.

Tsunade Senju crossed her arms under her breasts, her beautiful face marred by a sneer. "Watch who you're calling _elder_, brat! You're lucky I even came to this farse of a meeting."

"It is good that Hime-sama sees it for what it is."

Her golden eyes narrowed. "You misunderstand me, Shimura-san; _you_ are the farse. That Kakashi even had to go to such lengths to exercise his legal rights is proof that Sensei was right to write a change of council into the law."

"You forget your place!"

"And _you_ forget that I am your candidate for Hokage! I don't want the hat! _Jiraiya_ doesn't want the hat! Kakashi's already wearing it, and if he'd fine with it I say just let him keep it! Even if I were to take his place right now, I would be doing the exact same thing. That girl is my flesh and blood, and I'll be damned if I let Orochimaru lay his filthy hands on one of mine, again!"

This was _definitely_ not something genin should be listening to. Still, that entire exchange could have been had elsewhere, likely before any of them arrived. They were clearly meant to see, but Neji wasn't entirely sure why. Was it to impress upon a new generation that the current Hokage wasn't someone to provoke? Was it meant to be a semi-public display of the new council's power? There was no way this kind of thing could be done in front of the civilian council or the general public, but a group of genin, almost all of them tied to one major clan or another? That made sense.

There was no way it was meant to showcase Hanako's relation to Tsunade Senju. "Flesh and blood" she'd called her. That wasn't a lot to go on and Neji was completely certain she hadn't meant to say it. There was no way. That was the kind of thing that involved banquets and official announcements. If Hanako was a Senju, even distantly, it was the kind of thing he would have been told. Hiashi-sama was not one to waste opportunities for advancement, and a relationship with a Senju child was definitely one to be fostered.

The doors to the office opened, and Neji pointedly did not turn around like many of the others did, keeping his attention on the Hokage. He itched to activate his Byakugan, just to check, but doing so in the Hokage's presence without an express order was extremely uncouth.

"Gaara!" Naruto's happy exclamation made it clear who it was. "You guys are out of prison, now?"

The three genin from Suna stepped forward to join their Konoha counterparts, the two elder siblings visibly nervous as they stood close to the youngest, who stood unmoved by the distrust flowing through the room. They were part of the invasion force, were they not? Why would the Nara include them in a plan to rescue Hanako, since that was clearly his aim? There was something else there, something Neji was missing. Naruto seemed genuinely happy to see them, and his kunoichi teammate greeted them cordially, but the other Konoha genin were holding themselves a bit apart.

"Thank you for coming," the Nara said, as though they had any choice. "How much were you told about why you're here?"

"Something happened to Hanako." The red haired one stated, his voice low. He'd been relatively calm compared to the murderous aura he'd carried during the exams, but there was an edge to his words that hinted at that rage. "Where is she?"

Strange. Neji was a part of the team which escorted the Suna trio to Konoha for the exams, and he'd noticed Hanako's attempts to befriend the unstable boy, but he had no idea she'd succeeded. He wasn't sure he liked the tone of his question, though.

The Nara didn't seem to agree, a small smile brightening his otherwise uninterested expression. "Easy, Gaara. She's alive, I promise. Try not to go on a rampage until after we've gone through the formalities, ok?"

Gaara did not look pleased, but he didn't argue. Some of the tension left his sister's body, but her expression didn't soften.

"We were told there was an opportunity to earn a pardon," she said, voice clear despite her nerves. "As the eldest, I will receive the terms."

The Nara stepped away from the front of the room, coming to stand beside the pink haired kunoichi. Hatake smiled that too sweet smile of his.

"Shimura, Utatane, Homura, you are dismissed. Neko, escort them out."

An Anbu agent appeared, kneeling before the Hokage before ushering the old council out. They had enough pride not to protest too loudly, but their discontent was palpable. The two Sannin took their places in the seats vacated by their predecessors, also obviously unhappy, but not complaining.

"The Sabaku family," the Hokage began, the weight in his voice incredibly similar to his daughter's—a resemblance seldom seen, given their outwardly different personalities. "Has had a grievance against the Hatake Clan since the Third Great Ninja War, when my father killed the son of Sabaku no Chiyo in combat. My father is dead by his own hand, but the grudge remains. You three were part of the invading force which crippled my village and my child—by rights, I could simply execute you. However," his expression became almost sinister, his one eye aflame with a glare Neji was very glad wasn't aimed at him. "For _some reason_ my kid has decided that you're friends. I can't just kill of her friends, no matter how badly I might be tempted. So, I have decided to give you the opportunity to earn your freedom. My super cute kiddo has been taken by Orochimaru's evil little cronies. You are going to work under Shikamaru-chan, there, to help bring her back. Once my baby is back in my arms, never again to part from me, then, and only then, will I grant you three a pardon for your involvement in the invasion. Am I clear?"

…

Neji had met Hanako's father many times over the years of their friendship, and, while he'd doted on her openly in a fashion no Hyuuga parent would dare, he'd never been so…embarrassing.

Also, what had Gaara done to incite such anger? Neji was almost afraid to ask, given the open threats the Suna boy had weathered without reaction.

"Are those terms negotiable?"

The puppeteer snorted at his sister's question, adjusting the weight of the massive, wrapped puppet on his back. "Come on, Temari, what's the point? Gaara's going no matter what—can't leave his girlfriend with the creepy snake man, right?"

A solid wave of killing intent rolled over everyone in the room, the Hokage's saccharine smile sending shivers down Neji's spine.

It was Jiraiya who spoke though, his face twisted in disgust. "Please, no. I can barely stomach a grandchild as it is."

Tsunade scoffed. "If you didn't want grandchildren, then you shouldn't have had a child."

"It wasn't intentional, believe me."

The elder Nara cleared his throat, speaking for the first time. "Maybe you should get going? Hanako is a resourceful girl, but I'm sure she could use the help."

His son sank into their clan's signature slouch. "Troublesome."

Neji was inclined to agree.

* * *

**This fic is almost a whole year old! Can you believe it! The first anniversary will be on November 11th! Now, I''ve already said this, but I won't be updating this fic or Round Two in November so I can focus on Round Three for NaNoWriMo, but I really want to do something for the anniversary! I'm thinking of sharing some ideas that almost got used and maybe writing some AU snippets. Maybe a Q&A? Let me know!**

**ALSO! I commissioned a new artwork with Hanako's new face markings! It's on Archive of Our Own, in a work titled _Shinobi Isekai!: Artwork _along with a link to the artist's page! I wish I could post pictures here for you guys, but c'est la vie. **


	52. Distant Relations

**I'm sorry guys. I wanted to have this arc done before November, but I didn't make it. ****(****﹏****) I'm sad to say that this will be the last update for this fic until December, and I'm upset that I'm leaving it at this point. I hope this chapter was long enough to tide you over until then. Still, I will be updating Round Three every day in November with chapters of at least 1700 words each, so feel free to read that one! Please read it. My sister helped me with it. ****(****ಥ****﹏****ಥ****)**

**Edit: I didn't realize it but with this chapter this story is officially over 100k words long! (This is total words in the story, not including the author's notes) AAAAAAAH! Of all the chapters to do it!**

* * *

_I don't like this_.

Kiba huffed a humorless laugh, scratching at his sensitive nose in the hopes of dispelling the unpleasant combination of scents that had it itching with the promise of a sneeze. "Yeah, me neither, buddy."

Akamaru whined piteously. _Does he have to come?_

There was only one 'he' the dog could be referencing. Kiba turned sharp eyes on the short redheaded boy from Suna, the scent of blood still clinging to him in a cloud of malaise that urge Kiba to run as far and fast as he could from the predator it preceded. During the Chunin Exams, he'd followed that instinct and kept his team away from the Suna trio, but now…

Now, they were united in their quest to save Hanako.

Kiba's face twisted as he growled lowly to himself. How could she have been taken from the middle of the village? There was no way no one noticed the _Hokage's_ kid being taken against her will.

"Kiba." He turned to Shikamaru, the only person from their graduating class to be promoted—not that Kiba was bitter or anything. "We're going to the rooftop where Jiraiya-sama last saw Hanako. See if you and Akamaru can find her scent."

"Hmph, of course we can," he declared. "Hanako-chan's a scent tracker, too, you know. She knows how to leave a trail."

"That's what I'm counting on. Come one, I'll give all of you more information once we get there."

The rooftop in question was one of the taller ones, standing right in the middle of the village. All sorts of scents wafted up from the streets below, the cacophony of construction somehow amplified by the myriad of towers and alleyways. Kiba and Akamaru wasted no time trying to identify Hanako's scent. Everyone's scent was unique, produced by a combination of shed skin cells, hair, sweat, and residual chakra, with certain similarities across families and even the village as a whole. Hanako's scent was superficially similar to her father's and even Sasuke's, which was to be expected since they all lived in the same house, ate the same food, and were in such constant contact with each other. However, her scent was different in a way that made it instantly identifiable, its underlying foundation utterly distinct. Where nearly everyone in Konoha had the scent of trees somewhere on them, Hanako, despite living in the village for more than half her life, now, smelled like water. Specifically, like rain on parched stone, an overdue monsoon bringing an end to a drought. It was a refreshing scent, one that Kiba learned to identify almost instantly for its uniqueness.

And one he was struggling to uncover from beneath a day's worth of foot traffic.

"You said you had more information?" The older boy from Suna asked, using his puppet to prop himself up.

Kiba listened intently as he crouched down, sifting through the layers of scents which had accumulated since Hanako's disappearance. If they'd only known sooner, then maybe…

"Right, well, this is kind of a secret, but Hanako said it was fine to tell you. Sakura, can you check to make sure the privacy seals are still in place?"

The Top Kunoichi of their year rushed to do just that even as Ino screeched over the familiarity between her love rival and her teammate. Kiba was more concerned about the secrets Shikamaru was going to share. It couldn't be the sharingan, right? Kiba knew about it, but only because Sasuke hadn't stopped to consider whether or not he could be heard by people with heightened senses. Neji knew about it, too, because he'd been there and seen it for himself. Kiba cast a glance at his teammate's older cousin, but the Hyuuga was as stoic as the rest of his clan, giving no indication that he shared Kiba's concerns.

"They're good," Sakura confirmed, coming back to stand beside Shikamaru—an interesting development he'd have to tell his sister about, so she could make the necessary changes to her bet in the genin shipping pool.

Shikamaru sighed as he found himself the center of everyone's attention, his slouch steepening as though their gazes had actual weight. "This is so troublesome. Before I say anything, you need to understand that this is a secret, ok? It could cause a serious international incident if word got out."

"What, worse than ours?"

The Suna kunoichi smacked her younger brother over the head for his impertinence, and Kiba took some joy in the knowledge that older sisters were the same no matter where they came from.

"Yes." Shikamaru's serious answer to the joking question instantly sobered everyone up. "Much worse."

Chouji, who had remained quiet all through the meeting with the Hokage and up to now, finally spoke up. "Well, we won't tell. Hana-chan's our friend."

A whiff of rain had Kiba inching toward the edge of the roof, his nose to the air as he tried to ferret out the trail.

Shikamaru didn't say anything for a long moment and Kiba looked over his shoulder to see him frowning in way he'd never seen the other boy do. Sure, Shikamaru wasn't the most expressive of guys, but he was never so…dour. Sakura stepped up to him, bumping his shoulder with hers in obvious encouragement.

Yep. So telling Hana. This was the kind of info the jounin lived off of, the nosy gossips.

Shikamaru sighed and Kiba turned back to his sniffing. "Ok, fine. Look, Hanako already knew people were going to come after her. She actually expected it to happen sooner, but they were keeping their distance for some reason. So, she orchestrated a fight with her grandfather so they'd think they had a chance at getting her to leave willingly."

"Wait a minute," Ino interrupted, her voice shrill as it always was. "Her grandfather? Who's her grandfather?"

"Pervy Sage," Naruto provided helpfully. "Duh. They have the same eye thingies."

"_What?_ Since when?"

"That's not important—."

"Not important? Shikamaru, Jiraiya-sama is one of the last pureblooded Senju in existence! They're a founding clan!"

Something twisted in Kiba's gut. If Hanako was related to the Senju, then her place in the village was even more prestigious than before. As heir to the Hatake clan, she was the only one in line to inherit the greatest stash of wealth in the Land of Fire. Every clan in the village except the Inuzuka and the Nara paid the Hatake rent, along with literally every civilian and shinobi who called Konoha home. Most of that money was put right back into the village in the form of maintenance, of course, and he was eighty percent sure the Hatake were the ones paying for all the repairs in the wake of the failed invasion, making use of a disaster fund which had also paid for the rebuilding after the Kyuubi attack all those years ago. The entire village was basically private property the Hatake were kind enough to rent out to the people living in it, and they were pretty good landlords, all things considered. The Inuzuka owned their land outright only because of the ancestral alliance between the two dog clans, their sizeable estate a gift to signify the goodwill they shared. The Nara were granted their lands on account of their herds, if he recalled correctly, as well as the medicines they provided to the veterinary clinics free of charge. His mother had drilled the land laws into him the instant it became clear that there might be a chance that the Hatake and Inuzuka would renew their alliance. He didn't have the head for numbers, but he could at least keep track of who owned what—it was mostly Hatake, anyway. Still, it was starting to look like he'd never need to use that knowledge…

The only chunin among them let out a long, weary sigh. "Please, Ino, can you not be a drag for two seconds? That's all I'm asking."

"Listen here, you lazy—!"

"Ino, please. That's enough."

Sakura's voice was soft—especially compared to Ino's shrill screaming—but her tone was firm. It was so out of character, Ino even listened.

"Thank you, Sakura." That was also unexpected. Shikamru being polite? Without his mother nagging him into it? Unnatural. "As I was saying, Hanako was aware of the team sent to retrieve her for some time before they made their move, so we have a bit of information about them. I'll be using that to split us up into takedown teams, with live capture as our goal."

"Live capture is most appropriate," Shino said, his monotonous voice belying the angry buzzing of the insects inside his body. Being on the same team taught Kiba that the bugs were a better indication of the Aburame's mental state than anything else, and he was lucky his ears were sharp enough to hear them, though they were just on the edge of his audible range. "Why? Because Hanako would not be pleased to learn we ended a life to save hers."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "She takes that really seriously, believe it!"

"Wait, I'm still confused," the puppeteer interjected. "Why did she let them take her when she could have told someone they were here?"

"That's where the secret comes in. You see, even though four people were inside the village, there are actually five people on the team. The last one is Kimimaro Kaguya, the last surviving member of the Kaguya clan."

"Weren't they, like, wiped out ages ago? That was when Kiri started hunting down people with kekkei genkai, right?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru sighed. "It was. The Kaguya clan staged a coup against the government in retaliation, and they were slaughtered down to every last man, woman, and child—except for Kimimaro. Orochimaru somehow got ahold of him and turned him into a loyal soldier for Oto, but he's sick. He'll probably die, soon, if he doesn't get proper treatment."

"Oh! So, Hana-chan wants to bring him to Tsunade-baa-chan so she can fix him!"

"Yeah, but why?" The puppeteer was asking all the good questions. "She's never met the guy, right? So why does she care?"

Kiba's hackles rose at the implications of that question. "Hey, Hanako-chan doesn't need a reason to want to help people," he spat, glare locking on the older boy where he stood on the other side of the roof. "He's sick and needs help, that's reason enough for her." It was another of the reasons she was different from everyone else. Sure, her tongue could be sharp, but she never hesitated to help people when they needed it, even when they had hurt her, before. When one of her childhood bullies almost lost their home because their parents couldn't pay rent, she forgave their debts and granted them a grace period so they could get back on their feet.

"Kiba's right," Shikamaru agreed. "But she does know him. Hanako's from Kiri, too."

…

What?

Kiba turned back to stare at the newly promoted chunin who again sank under the combined weight of everyone's stares. The Nara gestured at the Konoha genin.

"You guys all know she grew up outside Konoha before she suddenly showed up and started going to the Academy. What you don't know, and what is absolutely to remain secret," he added that part with a glare at the louder members of the team—cough, Ino and Naruto, cough, definitely not Kiba, cough. "Is that she was born in Kiri. Her mother's clan is—or was, we don't know if there any others still alive—matrilineal, so even though her father's from Konoha, she had no contact with him. Their seal is a hiden, not a kekkei genkai, but it's big and it's eye catching. So when clans like the Hoshigaki and the Kaguya started being edged out of society, her mom made the decision to leave before things got worse. Unfortunately, someone noticed her leaving and Hunter nin were sent after her. She died before she could reach Konoha, but Hanako survived."

That…He'd had no idea. He knew her mother was a sensitive topic. She never brought her up and always got really withdrawn and sad when someone else did. It was something all her friends knew better than to talk about. To think, the story was so complicated and involved.

"Huh," the puppeteer said, sucking his teeth and crossing his arms over his chest. "So that's what she meant when she said her mother was murdered."

"She _told _you?" For once, Kiba had no issues with Ino's screeching.

The Suna genin's face became insufferably smug beneath the obnoxious purple paint, his lips curling upward at the edges. He shrugged. "Hey, it's not my fault I have one of those faces."

Right.

"So, Hana-chan knew this Kimimimo guy back in Kiri?" Naruto was oddly subdued, his previous exuberance dulled by talk of the Kiri genocides. Kiba vaguely remembered the blond boy having a mission that involved another survivor, or something, but he wasn't sure. "That's so sad!"

Shikamaru snorted, the sound more a rough exhalation through his nose than a laugh. "Oh, not just that. They're cousins. Distantly," he added when everyone again looked at him, agog. "You'll see it when you meet him. They have the same 'eye thingies'."

"Huh, so she let herself get caught so she could rescue her cousin? That makes sense," Chouji said around a mouthful of potato chips.

"I thought the eye thingies were from Pervy Sage, though."

Kiba had no idea what the 'eye thingies' were supposed to be. He hadn't seen Hanako since the final round of the Chunin Exams, but nothing stood out in his memory that would fit that description.

"The Kaguya are distantly related to the Senju," Sakura supplied. "And the Uchiha, and the Hyuuga, and the Uzumaki. They're all descended from the same ancestral clan, so there are a few shared traits which pop up every now and then."

"Woah, really!?" Naruto turned to Neji, a broad smile on his face. "Yo, we're cousins!"

The sour twist of Neji's mouth was barely discernable, but it was there. Kiba took a moment to relish in his discomfort before he started wondering how Hinata would feel about that revelation. The Hyuuga and Uzumaki were distant enough to be two separate clans, but she'd still probably turn a furious red when he told her. Kiba looked at Shino, his teammate nodding imperceptibly. They'd tell her together, then.

"So," Ino began, crossing her arms in her trademarked stubborn stance. "What's the plan, then? There's five of them and eleven of us, so there's roughly enough to take them on two on one."

Shikamaru's lips quirked in a half smile at his teammate's deduction and he opened his mouth to speak before his expression closed off, a hard glint entering his dark eyes and making him look entirely too much like his father.

The eleven genin were now twelve. Everyone turned to look at a panting Sasuke, his black eyes wide and unfocused and his mask nowhere to be seen. It was weird to see his face again after so long, but he looked pretty much the same. Pale skin, a sharp, pointed face, a tan line.

Pfft.

"What happened," he demanded, voice airy and breathless. "Where is she?"

Oh. Someone told him. Kiba hadn't questioned the Uchiha's absence from the Task Force. He was pretty sure Hanako's sharingan was one of the reasons she was targeted by Orochimaru in the first place, though no one had confirmed it—Shikamaru hadn't mentioned it, so it was likely Hanako hadn't given him permission to share _that_ particular secret. Sending both genin with the sharingan out of the village where Orochimaru's henchmen were waiting was a very bad idea.

"Sasuke," Shikamaru's voice was colder than Kiba had ever heard it. "What are you doing here?"

"What are talking about? Obviously, I'm going with you!"

"Obviously, you can't." Shikamaru straightened, giving off an aura of authority that had nothing to do with the chunin vest he was wearing. "I'm the leader of this mission, Sasuke, and I chose the people who needed to go. You're not one of them."

Oof, harsh. Sasuke was undeterred, though, his pride set aside for once.

"She's injured, Shikamaru," his panic bled through to his voice and Akamaru whined quietly as he picked up on it. "She can't defend herself the way she used to! She can't just pull a weapon out of thin air, anymore!"

"Wait, what?" Kiba looked to Shikamaru, panic of his own tying itself into knots in his chest. "She's hurt? You didn't mention that!"

Shikamaru scowled, but he didn't say anything.

Naruto did, though.

"It's fine, teme," he assured his teammate. "She can do one handed jutsus, remember? Besides, Ochinchin wants her alive. He won't hurt her." *

"You don't know that!" Sasuke was showing more emotion in this one conversation than he had in the last five years. "She can't fight the way she's used to, and she can't use her seal! She's at a serious disadvantage!"

"Sasuke-kun, calm down." Sakura's words were devoid of the worship she normally expressed for the Last Uchiha—with Hanako's sharingan, was he really the last, though?—and her expression was completely serious. "Take a moment to think about this. Look at everyone here. Do you think you can bring something to this team that they can't?"

Sasuke looked at the gathered genin as though seeing them for the first time, lingering on Gaara for a moment too long.

"Sasuke-kun, we have trackers, heavy hitters, distance fighters, defense specialists, and strategists. Again, is there something you can add to this lineup?"

Damn. She really wasn't giving him an out, was she? Was this really Sakura? Sasuke's ultimate fangirl, Sakura?

"My sharingan—."

"Will be a liability," she cut him off, her voice clear and brooking no argument. "You were Orochimaru's original target, you know. He switched to Hanako because he had an interest in her seal, plus another incentive I'm sure I don't need to point out."

Sasuke stiffened at the obvious reference to Hanako's sharingan. So, Sakura knew about it, too. That meant Shikamaru probably did, as well. They were quite the pair, weren't they?

Not everyone knew about it, though, since Chouji, Shino, Ino, and Naruto looked confused, along with two of the Suna genin. Gaara didn't react at all, his expression still that tense, edge of panic expression he'd worn since leaving the Hokage's office. He wasn't radiating killing intent anymore, but Kiba was still wary of him. He stank of blood and there was something in the way he'd reacted to the news about Hanako's abduction that told him there was more to their relationship than he'd been told—which was nothing, but still. There was something there, something dangerous, and he wasn't entirely comfortable with his presence on the team, but he was strong, so Kiba was willing to set aside his misgivings. For Hanako's sake.

"If you come," Sakura continued. "Then there will no longer be a reason to keep Hanako-chan alive. Her seal no longer works," she spoke over Sasuke's startled protest. "But her seal isn't the only thing Orochimaru wants. If presented with an uninjured alternative, what do you think he will do?"

The wind visibly left Sasuke's sails, his expression falling into a look of despair Kiba recognized with a heart wrenching lurch. It was the same look he'd worn when his mother had brought him to their house, right after the Uchiha Massacre.

Naruto stepped up to his teammate and placed his hands on the taller boy's shoulders, pressing their foreheads together in an obvious display of affection. The words he said were deliberately pitched too low for most people to hear, but Kiba's senses were much sharper than most.

"Don't worry, teme," the Dead Last promised the Rookie of the Year. "I'll bring her back, believe it. I never go back on my word."

As Sasuke nodded forlornly, the wind shifted and Kiba finally caught hold of Hanako's scent.

* * *

*** Ochinchin is Japanese for p*nis, lol. **


	53. Anniversary Special!

**Hello all!**

**I can't believe I actually made it this far. I have a bad habit of starting fics, losing motivation after maybe ten chapters, and then just deleting them from the internet. When I started this one, I kinda figured it would be similar. It was born of equal parts inspiration and procrastination, lol, as I was **_**supposed**_** to be writing an essay when the first chapter went up. You guys latched onto it, though! You asked for more and I couldn't bear to disappoint, and now we're here! Over 100k words and a year later! Yowza! I am agog. This fic (and the other two that spawned from it, lol) are such a big part of my life now, and I'm glad I actually stuck this one through!**

**Now, I told y'all that this fic wouldn't be updating in November because I'm doing something else for NaNoWriMo, and that's still true! **_**But**_**, because it's the 1st Anniversary, I thought I'd share some things about this fic!**

**This entire fic was spawned from a single image! I can't post pictures here, but I'll try to share the link. If you want to see the pictures, go read this same chapter on AO3!**

**i . pinimg 564x / 03 / 94 / 5a / 03945ac8392ca74860607304c606a1d6 . jpg**

**Just delete the spaces and hopefully it will work!**

**I've looked everywhere for the model's name and information so I could share it with you, but, alas, it's been swallowed by the internet. If you know it, please share!**

**This is the picture that started it all! I was also really into isekai fanfics, manga, and light novels at the time (lol, I still am) so I had all these ideas swirling in my brain. I thought, hey, maybe I can do one, too! And I did!**

**When designing Hanako, obviously I was influenced by Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender. His tattoos were the only ones in my head when I first started writing. Now, though, I've done more research into traditional and ancient Japanese tattooing. If you want to see the tattoos which now inform my mental image of Hanako's, look up the work of Taku Oshima and Ryoichi Maeda. They used clay figurines from the Jomon period to recreate what tattoos from that era might have looked like! Super cool!**

**I had a lot of ideas surrounding these tattoos! They were literally the only things in my head when I started writing, lol. I knew they were gonna be seals—because what else would they be?—but for **_**what? **_**That was the question. Initially, I thought I'd maybe stick something in them. Something sinister and alive! It was gonna be a spider. Like, she was gonna have spider summons. It was gonna be a whole thing. But, as long time readers will remember, I used to be rather interactive in my writing process. I asked who you wanted her to end up with, and you picked Kakashi. So, the spiders were tabled. She still uses thread in combat, but that's as far as my original idea goes. Some of those elements are currently being incorporated into Round Three, though, so it's not a total loss.**

**Hanako, herself, is based on the Korean actress Park Bo Young. (If you haven't watched **_**Strong Girl Bong Soon**_** you must!) She has a youthful face and often play quite childlike characters, but she is also very capable as a serious, emotional actress! I love her to bits!**

**Lol, that's enough background, I guess. I asked on Tumblr if you guys had any questions or AU ideas you'd want to see me answer and explore here, but I only got one or two replies. I had a specific request for a look at what might have been if Hanako was taken in by the Sarutobi, as I originally planned.**

**Below this cut are a bunch of snippets for that other, might have been, universe! It goes from Chapter 2 to Chapter 14.**

* * *

"You look just like my grandpa!"

Hiruzen looked down at the little girl in shock, an expression she mirrored with much greater intensity. In fact, she looked rather scandalized by the notion, black eyes wide and mouth agape.

He chuckled around the stem of his pipe. "Do I really?"

The child was anything but amused. Her face crumpled with the weight of grief, tears bringing unfortunate light to her otherwise abyssal eyes.

"I don't understand," she began to chant lowly to herself, her hands coming up to cover her ears as though she could block out the reality before her. "I don't understand."

Hiruzen stepped out from behind his desk, kneeling in front of the girl with a protest from his joints and placing his hands on her narrow shoulders. "It's alright, my dear. I understand this is difficult for you, and under different circumstances I would encourage you to take all the time you need before speaking with us. However, your circumstances are rather special. We need to hurry if we are to catch the men who killed your mother. I hope you can forgive our insensitivity."

She looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. "So you _are_ interrogating me."

Oho. How interesting. How old was she again? Five? Hmm, if things went well, then he'd have to keep an eye on her.

!

Danzo scowled at him, the expression too familiar to have any bite.

"You're mad, Hiruzen," his old friend scolded. "That child is a disaster waiting to happen. The seal on her mind is just the first sign of trouble to come. Give her to me." Ah. There it was. "Her seal will be useless with one of my own in place."

True. He had a point. He always did. It was why Hiruzen had such a hard time denying him, even when his heart ached to comply. He looked down at his hand, remembering her soft, shaky grip as Yamanaka-kun examined—well, attempted to examine—her mind.

"I'm lonely, old friend," he said with a sigh. "My eldest son greets me as his Kage, not his father, and my youngest fled the village as soon as he was able. If I were to foster a child from a clan, there would be accusations of favoritism, and I couldn't bear to take in an orphan, not while Naruto is still on his own. This child has no ties to anyone, will give no advantage to any one family or bring attention to the boy. Besides," he smiled slightly. "Biwako will finally stop pestering the boys for grandchildren."

Danzo's sour expression didn't change, but he did sigh and Hiruzen knew he won.

"Very well, old friend. Have it your way."

"Oh, I plan to."

!

Biwako accepted the child without asking a single question. The girl was still rather hesitant, and he pretended not to notice the twist to her mouth when he insisted she call him ojii-san. If he truly resembled her actual grandfather so closely, then she would adjust. Hikari, his eldest son, had nothing to say about the addition to the family, greeting Hanako politely in passing but little else. Still, the heavy tension that filled their home was somewhat lessened, as Biwako now had someone to focus on other than her still unmarried son. The girl, for her part, was receptive of the Sarutobi matriarch's care, and quickly became the older woman's shadow, learning all the things a wife should know. Most girls her age were far less receptive of such things, Hiruzen knew from many conversations with Yamanaka-kun, but Hanako seemed content to be molded into a traditional bride.

Well, that suited him just fine. He and Biwako never had any daughters, so they could not strengthen their ties to other clans through marriage the way they might have wished to. With a young, fairly attractive ward, though, that deficiency could be countered. Really, the girl was a godsend.

Enrolling her in the academy proved a little more difficult than anticipated, since the poor thing couldn't actually read. No matter. Hiruzen called upon Ebisu, the newly promoted special jounin eager to prove his abilities as a private tutor. Who better to spur on his career than the Hokage's ward?

To everyone's immense pleasure and surprise, the girl was a quick study, learning to read with startling fluency in more than enough time to enter the academy. She even managed to skip two grades, though she expressed disappointment that she couldn't start from the beginning. Everyone assured her that it was no issue, students of proper skill skipped all the time, and she relented.

Though, Hiruzen was starting to suspect she never _truly_ relented in anything, just quieted her protests and took action, instead. While slightly vexing, sneaking around the _Hokage_ of all people was good training for a shinobi, so he allowed it.

Her relationship with Naruto, however…

He was tempted to nip it in the bud. He'd even taken her aside to try and explain, in very roundabout terms, why she should leave him alone. She calmly and directly refuted his every argument, looking up at him with those bottomless eyes and foisting all the judgement of decades upon his shoulders.

Sometimes, he swore she was older than she looked.

So, his two wards became friends. That was fine. If it gave him a way to provide better for Naruto without inviting the scorn of the village, then that was an added bonus. Hanako, Naruto, and Yamanaka-kun's little Ino-chan became a rather tightknit group, actually, and Hiruzen had a feeling he'd accidentally allowed a new faction to bloom right beneath his nose. Oh well.

!

He had just finished a meeting when Ebisu brought a weeping Hanako to his office, speaking rapidly about seals and light and insects. Only after calming both teacher and student did he learn that the intricate tattoos covering her body were actually a storage seal and she'd accidentally sealed an innocent insect away when she activated it for the first time. A little encouragement and the feat was repeated in a dazzling display of light and the poor thing rescued. Hanako was too soft hearted to be a shinobi, he knew, but with such a Hiden literally written in her skin, there was nothing else she could be. Still, a seal specialist was rarely deployed to combat zones…

He brought home one of Tobirama-sensei's scrolls that night.

!

The mess with the Uchiha was a tragedy, to be sure, and one he wished he could have avoided. Alas, the village came first, even before her people. The Uchiha could not have been allowed to proceed as they were. While unfortunate, their demise was unavoidable.

His heart weighed heavy in his chest as he walked the glaringly white halls of the hospital. There should be one survivor, and he would be remiss if he didn't at least show his face in the beginning.

"Ah, Hokage-sama! We didn't expect _you_!" The harried nurse bowed in greeting before continuing, her words no less confusing. "We sent word to the Sarutobi compound, but we didn't realize you would come yourself! She's stable, for now, and has been a great help in keeping the Uchiha boy calm. We've put them in the same room and intend to keep them together until a Yamanaka clears them for separation."

Hiruzen held up a hand. "I'm sorry, my dear, but I'm afraid I don't understand. Who is with the boy?"

The nurse looked at him with open mouthed surprise. "Why, it's Hanako-chan, sir! Didn't they tell you?"

A chill hand gripped his aging heart, tightening as the poor nurse explained the situation to him. Why? Why was Hanako at the Uchiha compound tonight of all nights? As far as he knew she had no friends in the clan, no interactions with them outside of the academy. So why?

He stepped into the room where the children were being kept. Rather than sit in her own bed, his ward was wrapped around Uchiha Sasuke, her arms holding the older boy's head to her chest. She was whispering to him, things Hiruzen couldn't hear, and she didn't stop even when she noticed him. If he didn't know better, he'd think he saw blame in the inky black depths of her eyes, but that was impossible.

Impossible.

!

"I must say," he said over dinner, savoring the unique way Hanako flavored fish. "Your essay was my favorite."

His ward looked up at him as she placed a larger piece of fish on Biwako's plate, receiving praise for her attentiveness. "Oh? It wasn't anything special."

"I beg to differ. No one's ever thought to say that kunoichi training was, how did you put it? Ah, yes, 'pointlessly gendered'."

Hanako blushed under Biwako's sudden scrutiny. "Well, it is. Men are sent undercover, too, right? Why shouldn't boys be taught the customs of other nations? Or a trade to help them blend in? It doesn't make sense." She stuffed her mouth full of vegetables, no doubt to spare herself from answering any questions.

Hiruzen chuckled. "You're right, my dear, and I'm glad you thought to say it. If that were the only thing in your essay, I would be only too proud to choose it as this year's winner."

She wilted. Ah, so she did know what she was doing when she wrote what she did about the shinobi council and generational influence on village politics. Who was he kidding. Of course, she did. She was entirely too clever for her own good.

"Naturally, such a good deed cannot go unpunished." Both the women at his table looked to him, then. "Now, now, let an old man have his fun. You'll go to the office with me tomorrow and find out then."

Biwako, well used to his antics, only shook her head and changed to subject. "Yona, Hikari's girlfriend, has been seen buying spicy tonkatsu nearly everyday for a month. I swear that girl is pregnant!"

* * *

**Tada! What did you think? Things would have been different, sure, but not completely inrecognizeable. I like the way things have gone, so thank you so much for the input that shaped the story into what it is today! There's a little more information about the essay, too, since I know it bothered some of you that I didn't actually go into it. I wanted to, and I even had a scene planned with Konohamaru where he revealed the change in academy curriculum, but he didn't end up meeting Gaara in my version of the Chunin Exams, so ****(****ω****;)**

**Another request I got was to write about Sai! I actually wanted to write about him during the Chunin Exams, too! He's actually gonna play a pretty big role come Shippuden, **_**hint hint**_**, so, I'm gonna say this next scene is Shinobi Isekai Canon! It happened during the month between the preliminaries and the finals!**

* * *

The village was unusually loud, today. It was always a little too noisy for his tastes, too many people packed into too little space, but today was especially bad. It was probably because of the influx of foreigners, dignitaries and civilians alike coming to see the spectacle called the Chunin Exams. Pop up stalls of foreign goods were taking over the marketplace, filling the air with a cacophony of new smells mixing together in the most unpleasant of ways.

Still, the bright new colors and strange fashions were incredibly eye catching. He couldn't help but bring out his ink and try to capture them on paper. His art also provided the perfect cover, allowing him to watch the comings and goings of the Kumo and Suna merchants from his vantage point on the hill without drawing any unnecessary suspicion. He was one of many agents tasked with keeping an eye on their movements, but his youth and skills allowed him to be more open about it and thus get closer to his subjects.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

He was glad that he was dipping his brush, or else the jolt that ran through him might have ruined the piece he was working on. Turning, he pulled his lips into a smile, something he knew put most people at ease. The person who'd startled him was one of the Konoha shinobi Danzo-sama wanted watched. She was an immigrant who'd managed to insinuate herself into a founding clan and had made too many powerful connections to be ignored. In her hands was an embroidery hoop, white fabric pulled taut and already marked by brightly colored threads.

He wanted to say no. To turn the masked genin away, but he knew that would only call attention to himself and Danzo would likely appreciate a report with her in it.

"Of course," he said, adding a lilt to his voice that should indicate happiness. "Be my guest."

She nodded her thanks and took a seat beside him, busying herself with her embroidery. She didn't speak again, seemingly content to sit and work as he did the same. That suited him fine, and he returned to his painting.

The sun was setting in the sky before she turned to him. Normally, he would have changed location several times in a day, but with her beside him he felt it best to remain. Her eyes, as black as his ink, looked over his shoulder at his painting. She sighed.

"You're incredibly talented. The only thing I cam do with ink is seals."

He already knew that. It was what marked her as a dangerous shinobi despite her apparent inability—and _unwillingness_, of all things—to fight physically. Still, he smiled at the compliment and looked at her embroidery for something to praise in turn, because that was how compliments worked. It wasn't a long search. Somehow, she'd managed to perfectly capture a river scene, the individual leaves on every tree stitched to perfection. How many different colors had she used to achieve such photorealism? His own work was stylized and black and white, besides, so this kind of minute detail wasn't something he practiced often, but he suddenly wanted to.

"Do you like it?"

Ah, his smile had slipped. As he was putting it back on, the younger girl freed the piece of fabric free of the hoop. The air tingled slightly as she used her chakra, their proximity letting him feel it. The creases in the cloth disappeared, leaving the beautifully embroidered square pristine. She offered it to him with both hands, black eyes closed in a smile—a real one, not like the one he had put on.

"Here. You can have it."

He took it, because it would be rude not to and being rude would only help people remember him. The silk was soft against his calloused skin, the many colors of the thread shining in the light of the setting sun.

"It was nice working beside you, senpai."

Ah. He hadn't even said thank you. She was already walking away, though, and he wasn't sure how to close the gap between them without accidentally breaking one of Danzo's orders.

When he delivered his report, he did not mention the girl, her gifted handkerchief burning like a coal in his pocket.

* * *

**Tada! I'm the God of this Universe, so I say this happened, lol. So mote it be!**

**This ends the Anniversay Special! I hope you liked it. I am so, so, **_**so**_** grateful for all of you! You made this possible! I probably would have deleted this story before chapter 10 if you hadn't engaged with it the way you have. This story exists because of you!**

**Thank you**!


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